Not seen one of these for a while Mazda 1800

[carrera al]

Back in the early 70's I was offered to buy one of the company cars. A Mazda 1800. Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now. But it was cheap at the time so I took up the offer. As it turns out, it was super reliable, very comfortable and made a great tow car. But I can't say I've seen one for a long time.

[Sebring440]

carrera al said:

Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now.

It was the Bertone styling that everyone loved, and put Mazda on the map.

[Super Sonic]

Sebring440 said:

carrera al said:

Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now.

It was the Bertone styling that everyone loved, and put Mazda on the map.

Yes I think it's pretty it has a Michellotti style

[Riley Blue]

Mazda memories:

At that time there was a Mazda dealership in the village where my boss lived and all our company cars were from it. Boss had a 1800 Estate followed by an RX3 Estate and I had a 818 Estate. They were all great cars to drive, especially the RX3, so much so that I ordered a RX3 Coupe but had to cancel due to redundancy. The dealer's loan car was a 818 Coupe which I managed to write off when my company car was in for service...

My lasting memory was of well equipped, well engineered comfortable cars but they felt 'tinny' compared with European models of the time and the wet weather performance of the Japanese tyres they came on left a lot to be desired.

[wjs1968]

My godfather had an estate version which he bought cheap in the early 80's and kept in a garage awaiting recommissioning. The garage was sadly broken into and the car vandalized including breaking the impossible to find tailgate screen. Shortly afterwards it went to the grey scrapyard in the sky. Shame as I remember it being a particularly handsome beast.

[Turbobanana]

Riley Blue said:

Mazda memories:

At that time there was a Mazda dealership in the village where my boss lived and all our company cars were from it. Boss had a 1800 Estate followed by an RX3 Estate and I had a 818 Estate. They were all great cars to drive, especially the RX3, so much so that I ordered a RX3 Coupe but had to cancel due to redundancy. The dealer's loan car was a 818 Coupe which I managed to write off when my company car was in for service...

My lasting memory was of well equipped, well engineered comfortable cars but they felt 'tinny' compared with European models of the time and the wet weather performance of the Japanese tyres they came on left a lot to be desired.

Mazda do seem to do well on brand loyalty. My father-in-law bought one of the first Mazda 6s in the country, early 03 plate, when he retired and had to give up the company Xantia. I drove it a few times and it was fine, if forgettable. Since the he's had two more 6s and is now on a CX-3. He's had to give up driving at 80, due to Alzheimer's, but my mother-in-law has kept it as it's easy to drive being an auto. She's had a Mazda 2 in the past and may well revert when the time comes, as they no longer do any significant mileage.

[ChevronB19]

carrera al said:

Back in the early 70's I was offered to buy one of the company cars. A Mazda 1800. Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now. But it was cheap at the time so I took up the offer. As it turns out, it was super reliable, very comfortable and made a great tow car. But I can't say I've seen one for a long time.

At a quick glance it looks like a Lancia Fulvia (which is beautiful)

[Mr Tidy]

carrera al said:

Back in the early 70's I was offered to buy one of the company cars. A Mazda 1800. Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now. But it was cheap at the time so I took up the offer. As it turns out, it was super reliable, very comfortable and made a great tow car. But I can't say I've seen one for a long time.

TBF for a 70s saloon it wasn't bad looking and visibility must have been fantastic with deep windows and slim pillars!

I can't remember ever seeing one though, even in the 70s.

[Lester H]

A lovely, elegant design and a sad reminder of how bloated new cars have become. Still a few decent small Mazdas, though.

[4rephill]

ChevronB19 said:

carrera al said:

Back in the early 70's I was offered to buy one of the company cars. A Mazda 1800. Not the prettiest of cars and you can see why you don't see them too often now. But it was cheap at the time so I took up the offer. As it turns out, it was super reliable, very comfortable and made a great tow car. But I can't say I've seen one for a long time.

At a quick glance it looks like a Lancia Fulvia (which is beautiful)

My first thought was: It looks like a Lancia Fulvia coupe that's been stretched slightly and had rear doors fitted to it.

[Watcher of the skies]

I'm seeing a lot of Triumph 2000 in there.

[daqinggregg]

Watcher of the skies said:

I'm seeing a lot of Triumph 2000 in there.

I'm seeing a lot of 60's/70's styling there.

Just as to day, cars of that era had their own distinctive styling cues. Manufacturers from the Far East are oft accused of copying Western brands, when IMO, they just following the styles of the times.






All these modern cars look the bloody same.



The Datsun 240Z is just a copy ………



How about a copy…….

[ds666]

My dad had an 1800 followed by an rx3 .
I just remember the 1800 being blue ( as per the pic above ) . The rx3 was terribly unreliable - stalled all the time , sold in 6 months .

[dundarach]

The 240Z still looks incredible

[dontlookdown]

A Mazda 1800 estate featured as one of the regular cars in that BBC drama about Charles Sobrhaj, The Serpent, a few years ago. It was quite a sharply styled thing for it's day.

[Riley Blue]

ds666 said:

My dad had an 1800 followed by an rx3 .
I just remember the 1800 being blue ( as per the pic above ) . The rx3 was terribly unreliable - stalled all the time , sold in 6 months .

I'm surprised about the RX3 stalling as I never found that when driving one. Its most notable feature was its ability to rev, its red line was in the stratosphere compared with others cars of the time.