Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback

While exploring the car graveyards of the world, I encounter many vehicles with incredibly high final odometer readings and even more in incredibly rough condition. Every once in a while, I run across discarded older vehicles in beautiful condition, often with very low miles. Today's Mazda, found in a Northern California boneyard, is one of the latter type.

Other than a bit of grime on the front seats, no doubt applied by towing and yard employees during this car's final journey, the interior looks just about perfect.

Just 70,685 miles on the odometer.

There's not a speck of rust on the body, and the paint is shiny and unmarred. This car spent its 37 years garaged and well cared for. It looks nicer than most five-year-old examples of its descendant, the Mazda3.

This is one of the more affordable cars of its era, and the DX three-door hatchback was just one small step up from the El Cheapo base 1983 Mazda 323 for 1987. Its MSRP was $7,699, or about $21,752 in 2024 dollars. 

There's no air conditioning, and an affordable 1990s cassette deck was installed in place of what I'll bet was a radio-delete blockoff plate.

No tachometer. No right-side exterior mirror. If this car was sold with any extra-cost options, I couldn't find them. The original owner wanted reliable basic transportation at a good price, and that's exactly what this is.

These pinstripes might have been a factory option, but I can't find them in any price guides or brochures. Perhaps the owner had them applied at a shop after purchase.

The shaky handwriting on a recent oil-change label suggests that this car was bought by an older driver who took meticulous care of it for decades and didn't have a long commute. When it was time to stop driving, period, nobody was interested in an econobox nearly four decades old and with too many pedals.

Plugging its VIN into the California smog-check history site shows an unbroken chain of passed biennial tests, always like clockwork in late August or early September, stretching back as far as the online records go. This car was babied.

The engine is a 1.6-liter B-Series SOHC straight-four with electronic fuel injection, rated at 82 horsepower and 92 pound-feet. Members of this engine family went into the Miata a few years later.

The transmission is a five-speed manual. Automatics cost too much, and (back in the 1980s) get worse fuel economy!

Starting in the 1991 model year, the Ford Escort became a sibling to the generation of Mazda 323/Protegé that followed this one. All in all, this is one of the most successful platforms in world automotive history.

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Why buy a Civic or Tercel?

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Mazda 323 DX 1.6i Hatchback