It’s hard to believe that Mazda didn’t jump into the US market until 1970, but by 1971 they were sending beautiful cars like this 1971 Mazda 1800 sedan. The seller has this rare, early (for the US market) Mazda posted here on craigslist. It’s located in “the Chicago Suburbs” which is, of course, in Illinois and they’re asking $5,999. Thanks to MattR for sending in this tip! Here is the original listing.
Mazda is one of the last holdouts as far as offering a manual transmission in a mid-sized sedan in their Mazda6. Sadly, the 6-speed option went away for the 2019 model year but the company has been known for decades as offering a bit more in the driver engagement department compared to a lot of other manufacturers. Zoom-zoom is, or was, their marketing blitz as you know.
The Mazda 1500, or 1800 as with this example, is known as a Mazda Luce (Lou-chay) in Japan and they were designed by the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. They are very stylish for the era but that’s nothing new for Mazda even today. This car appears to be in outstanding original condition and just over 1,000 of these stylish sedans were imported to the US in 1971.
Oddly enough, after all the talk about Mazdas being driver’s cars and manual transmissions, this one has an automatic transmission with a column-mounted gear selector, the exact opposite of driver engagement. This car was recently purchased from the estate of the original owner and we don’t have any information as far as how long it’s been off of the road or stored or really anything at all. This is about the only real interior photo other than one showing the door panel, one showing plastic still on the sun visors, and a close-up of the dash. Yes, that’s a CB radio, very cool.
Under the hood looks nice and original and appropriately dusty for an estate sale find. The engine is Mazda’s VB series 1.8L inline-four which for the US market had just under 100 horsepower, not a lot of zoom-zoom at all. Saddled with its BW T35 Borg-Warner three-speed automatic transmission, this is more of a boulevard cruiser than a canyon carver. It is, however, a very rare car in the US and it appears to be in great shape from what we can see in the photos. Have any of you owned or driven a Mazda 1800?
I once owned a 1969 Mazda 1500, and it was quite a fun thing to drive. If anyone considers making a play for this beauty and isn’t worried about originality, a 5-speed transmission from an early 1980s 626 bolts straight in. The driveshaft needs to be shortened, but that’s not expensive. The 5-speed makes a big difference to performance and is worth thinking about.
WHY DO some of you people HATE to keep these RARE vintage cars ORIGINAL????? Vandalism !!! You people who love to modify a CLASSIC RARE. Should DO LIFE in prison. 500 -1000 people in the company, worked to make the car this way, and you come along, modify the car and RUIN the car. Like a marrying a woman and TELLING her she should have a BEARD.
Wow! I have never seen this car before. Understandably with only 1000 imported you would definitely need to be at the right place and the right time to spot one of these. I see BMW e9 all over this car and would find a way to buy it if it were local to my area. Giorgetto Giugiaro is a freakin genius of car design. Someone needs to have a museum that just shows all of his artwork or at least a section. Great BarnFind!
That was my thought too. Reminded me of my 1972 BMW Bavaria.
Somehow sleeker than contemporary BMWs, whose trademark “kidneys” looked really tacked-on in this era.
Dang. My Dad had one of these in the mid seventies. It was white and very comfortable. Acres of windows and quite a handsome car in its’ day.
Anyone else notice all the other Mazda rotaries in the background; including the RX2’s and R100!
I had a ’72 R100 that I refurbished it & added early RX7
factory mags.I ended up selling it for $1000.Later,it was given
to me,& I gave it away.
Who knew that they’d be worth anything?
In the ’70’s,Mazda was based in Renton,WA.
I saw a number of these in British Columbia when I was there in 1975. I was impressed by the styling and thought it strange they weren’t sold in the US.
Ahoi
“Mein Auto Zerstört Deutsche Arbeitsplätze – MAZDA”. This is a quite, not anymore well known, saying in german language and means “My car destroys german jobs”. Well, at this time japanese cars hadn`t it easy in Germany.
Intressting place – full with old cars from Nippon. The Luces were also in europe quite rare and of course they are still rare. In France this cars were about 1000 Frances – yes, I am remember the confusing time before € – 1000 more expensive than a Peugeot 504. But this cars had 104 SAE-PS. Japanese classic cars are not cheap anymore in Europe. So, if the condition of this car is quite ok, than the price would be also ok.
Best regards,
Till J.
My neighbor had one of these in the early 70’s. Hers was beige and automatic. No frills car, but dependable. Didn’t realize til now its similarity in lines (except for trunk) to the 4-door Alfetta that came out a few years later.
A couple of these were around town when I was a kid in the 70’s. I think I remember one was a station wagon, though I could be wrong. It’s a good looking car.
I’m drooling over all the other early Mazdas in the background of the seller’s pictures, too.
I have had Mazda Capella’s, 626’s of all types. 616’s etc. and loved them all, however, as fast as I bought them the faster they got stolen for their 2000cc engines that were then swapped into the 16 seat Toyota Mini buses.
It immediately reminded me of the Audi 100.
Still a good looking design
I bought one of these used in 1974. It was a nice car to drive, not much power but smooth ride. Lots of trouble with the electric fuel pump and it also had 2 sets of points. Low speed and high speed points were a big pain, had to file the points every other day. Sold it cheap and bought a 1966 plymouth for $200 and it was like driving a real car, slant 6 purred like a kitten. The last time I bought a car not made in North America.
I was a delivery driver for a company back in the early to mid-seventies that had two Mazda 1800 station wagons in the fleet and both had manual transmissions. I put thousands of miles on those cars and they were bulletproof and comfortable for the at the time 6′ tall 215 lb me. They handled the hills of downtown Seattle and were great on the highway. I probably averaged 200 miles/day in those cars.
I was all over these early Mazdas down under back in the day. The Capella, the 1500, the 808 etc, and all their fun but troublesome rotary cousins. I had a 1500SS for a while. I just loved driving it. All it ever needed was gasoline and oil and occasionally new plugs, That’s it. The piston jobbies went like stink and never broke down. The rotary versions went like double stink and broke down muito (apex seal). Then the 626 came out and I fell out of love with the early Toyota Crowns and shacked up with Miss 626 and never looked back.
My favourite was the 626 estate until my son borrowed it, got drunk, and rolled it down an embankment. He survived but the only thing I could sell from the wreck was the radio! Every single panel was bent, every wheel was buckled, every piece of glass smashed, and the engine mountings were still fixed to the chassis, along with the front and rear of the block, but the actual lump and gearbox was never recovered.
The design was originally made for Alfa Romeo, but they did not want it. And Mazda did.
Nice looking car. I’d pay more for the car if the condition was nicer, but assuming all parts are still available and it runs and drives under its own power, this would make an awesome restoration.