I’m sure the cup holders were designed for the ubiquitous 16 oz 90’s style paper cup. We hadn’t fathomed a gigantic yeti bottle in the 1990’s

Got to love a beat up old car that still does what it was intended to do.

I loved this gen of 323, my wife used to own one when we were dating. Shes a mazda girl and now owns 21 cx9

9:27 Fun fact: that door handle was borrowed by Aston Martin for use in the DB7! They just chromed it up.

These used to be everywhere in the 90's & 00's - they were cheap to buy, run & maintain. They did what they were designed to do. The rear of these always reminded me of the AMC Pacer.

I saw one of these for sale on the side of the road for $200 and bought it the next day. It had a full tank of gas, or so I thought! The plastic between the gauges was gone, and the guy who sold it to me must have moved the gas needle up to full. Ran out of gas! That was 20 years ago and still the only time I ever ran out of gas.

Wow! This is a surprise! See mazda, windows used to be for visibility...They should have brought back that design in 2019! A real small hatch!

I had the previous generation of 323 disguised as a Mercury Tracer. Mine had the same 82 hp, 1.6 engine with 4 speed manual and non-power brakes and steering. Despite its humble status, my 323 did have an independent rear suspension which is a boast few 'near premium' Mazdas can make today. 🤣

Oh boy, that’s certainly got a few tales to tell!! Can’t beat a good reliable workhorse though 👍🏻

I love your reviews of little old econoboxes that everyone forgot about. Too bad the closest thing we have to this in the modern era is the Mitsubishi Mirage or Chevy Spark. And those two are going away.

My first car was the previous gen 323, manual tranny, gray vinyl interior, 3 different shades of red. Used to drive around San Francisco with my buddy back when I only had a permit. Burning clutch on those hills made me the man I am today 😅

Having owned a 1982 GLC (my first car) and a 2011 Mazda 2 (my current daily), I'll say that Mazda made excellent cheap $#!+boxes in the past. My 2 is not what you would call "nice", but driving it always makes me smile. I almost feel silly gushing over how much fun it is to toss around corners. I'll agree that the auto trans probably hurts the driving experience. When comparing manual and auto Mazda 2s, the manual reaches 60mph nearly TWO SECONDS FASTER. Thats the difference between squarely average and "hey wait for me".

My dad had a 91 Protege (The US 4-door 323) with the LX trim (with the Miata 4 banger) and a stickshift. Can confirm, that thing could BOOGIE! 😁

Cool trip down memory lane for me. My older cousin got his license a couple years ahead of me, and this was his first car. He got it from my uncle, who was into natural remedies, herbs and stuff. When my cousin got the car, it smelled like someone was smuggling cases of Doublemint gum. My uncle had used the car to transport some homemade mint tincture and some had spilled in the backseat. So, the entire time my cousin had the 323, it was always minty fresh. It was a fun lil car. It was a manual and my cousin always was dogging it, doing one wheel peels and whatnot. He actually absconded from a State Trooper in it one time(didnt get away, but that's another story.) He would pick me up and we would ride around, smoking funny cigarettes and blasting his Sony Xplod sub he stuck behind the rear seat. I dont know if it was the shape of the car, or the fact that there was no separate trunk area blocking the bass, but that Sony would rattle the car like nobody's business. I was a trusty copilot, swapping CDs into the head unit and performing cigarette rolling duties. One time we found a box turtle crossing the road in traffic, about to get hit. We pulled over and rescued it, putting it in the back seat and relocated it to a safer wilderness environment, while blasting some Three 6 Mafia on the way. We had some good times in that car

I have not really thought of this car but I know saw them sometimes when I was a kid, I am currently 37. The Mazda 323 is so rare or non-existent on the road nowadays and I never gave this car any thought even when they were more commonly around, but when I saw it in this video review, it made me remember times from over 20 years ago when I would see them on the road regularly. How weird it feels to me to see a car I haven't seen in many years or ever really thought about at all that jogs my childhood memories back to the fore when I see the unique looking back side or rear end of it.

My aunt had a manual one of these in red

I love seeing these and Ford aspire survivors!!! They're so rare these days w how cheap they were

Yeah a nice lil car in the day had to laugh of course it’s obviously beat up a bit but the state of the front licence plate got me still it’s great that it’s still on the road

My first car was a 1990 Mazda Protege, basically the same car except a sedan. Great little that was reliable and easy on gas. My parents bought it brand new as a graduation gift and I drove it through college and my first year of my first job. The only thing that ever went wrong was the A/C was going out right before trading it in for a Civic SI.

This is what you would have been driving 25 years ago. Since you on a Mazda 3 hatchback now lol

God this makes me wonder if I swap out my turbo do a couple other things then maybe I could get my 99 b5 Passat with 323k miles reviewed itd be awesome to see it being reviewed

I have 1991 in sunrise red. These cars are super, super rare. But, BG platform was used across the Ford Escort range from '91 to '03, and is the 1990-1994 Protege and the MX-3. The 323 has a slightly shorter wheel base than any of the shared variants. Although specific parts are rare, you can swap things around from the shared platforms. Mine has a 2.0L Zetec from a ZX2 and an ZX2 SR Ecu and so makes about 150hp with a header. Original motor made 82hp. Rear sway bar from a wagon escort, and rear disc brakes from a Protege. Everything basically bolts up. Fun little car.

My first car was a 1992 Mazda 323! love so much that I've owned 4 in my life lol...well, 5 because i owned a '95 Kia Sephia too, which have the same 1.6L(B6) engine and shares various parts. Currently daily drive a Mazda 3 Hatchback 1st gen but the BG 323 has a special place in my heart. Great reliable and easy to maintain cars.

Didn't know that the 323 existed until I went to a cars and coffee and it was clean

Great car with battle scares & hard life means reliability and dependability.. Millions of those littered the streets back in the day.

Loved this gen 323. The rear end is very odd, being one single angle from the roofline down to the rounded taillights that conflict with the squareness of the car. The little third high-mounted brake light looks like an afterthought. I recall Car and Driver doing a comparison of this and other economy cars in 1992 and declaring the 323 looked most like a shoe. Anyway, its an intriguing design that stood out On a side note, does the Kizashi that keeps lurking in the background hint a future review of that?

Very cool even if it’s a bit banged up

Used to have one, 94 hatch, in red, loved that car so much. Was a great little tank

I had a 1987 Mazda 323 wagon with a manual transmission and the same 82 horsepower engine. With the stick, it was quite peppy in the day because fuel injection was still fairly new as a mainstream fuel delivery system. In fact, it was nearly as quick as the original hot hatch which was the Gen 1 VW GTI (with only 90 HP). Back then, 0-60 in 10 seconds was considered quick for an economy car. In 1991, I upgraded to a Mazda Protege LX, also with a stick and around 125 HP. Unfortunately the car was totaled in a crash but I found a nearly identical 1994 Protege LX to replace it. Several years later, I further upgraded to an arrest-me bright red Gen 1 Speed 3 following my ownership of a 2004 Mazda 3 hatchback. Five Mazdas total thus far.

A girl I went to collage with had one of those, she loved it.

Appreciate the cleanliness now!

Will still outlast most Chevrolet products that are rolling off the assembly line today

At a quick glance on my phone I thought the pic was an FX-16 and got kind of excited having driven one in the past. oh well lol. Love your channel and positivity, absolutely respect your fondness for mazdas and look forward to the next video.

Okay, I am the owner of the 323F, the other one that Zack reviewed. I absolutely love how you have a Porsche 944 air freshener because that's literally the other vehicle I own as well 😅

Great review Zack. I would love it if you would compare this to a similarly when new priced Dodge Shadow or Chevy cavalier. This 323 is amazing in how it functions reasonably well even amongst more modern cars. So it survived AND drives good. That’s what impresses me.

Drove one in high school. Loved it. Sold me on Madzas. ❤

My best friends grandpa has a 1991 sedan version of this car. Bought it new In Aistria in 1991. Still has it and its going strong. My bros grandpas car has electric windows, electric sunroof. Its a 1.5 manual. Definitly my favourite mazda of all time. BG 323 gang! I will buy one one day

As far as I'm aware of, this generation of the 323 was never sold here in Brazil. Back in 2004, when I first watched Highwaymen (ft. Jim Caviezel), this car appeared in a few scenes, driven by the blonde friend of the FMC. I didn't know what car that was, even thought it was a Daihatsu, for some reason. Only a while after I found out it was a Mazda 323, thanks to the Internet Movie Cars Database's website.

It looks like it has rear vent windows. That would’ve been nice to know and see. Thank you for reviewing older cars like this!!!

Simple, point A to point B transportation. Like the Civic, the 323 is durable, reliable transportation.

When I was a kid. A neighbor had one. I used to go places in the back seat. I forgot what cat it was until I seen the taillights

I love this car! I love base-model older hatchbacks. That’s why I love my Fit!

Zack, if you can, you should definitely seek out a Mazda millenia. That car has quite an interesting history especially now that Mazda has gone upmarket

Reliability wise best car i have ever owned had one for years never gave me mechanical problems really good on gas a classic gem in my opinion❤

Everything but the automatic seems really fun about this era of Mazda.

My Grandfather's Mazda 323 survived 3 teenagers and survived to 525,000km

I've got a 1991 323 hatch, just keeping up on basic maintenance ((and having the 5 speed Stripper model)) I'm at 330,000 miles or 531083km on the original sohc engine. It felt weird my rims wore out before the motor. But it's definitely good in the canyons!

Yikes, that Mazda has seen better days…

Heh, this example is in about the shape I'd expect one to be in for having being kept alive this long despite the wear and battle damage. Some people just never buy a new car, because the current one still does what it's meant to do. It'll get you around and nobody's going to steal it.

We got this 323 hatchback design in Europe as well,as well as the more coupé-like 323F,& the saloon/sedan & esstate,wagon

The hatchback still retained the 323 name from the 80s whereas the sedan version was renamed the protégé. The next generation in 1995 dropped the hatchback, but the generation after that, brought it back renaming it the protege 5. The generation after that gave birth to the Mazda 3 name we all know in love.

The Mk I 323 was my favorite care growing up. I don't know why. The looks? Nowadays, I'd love to get my hands on one, expecting a GTX.

I havent seen one in yeears... I love it!!!

The Protege was way more common, at least where I lived. My neighbor's sister had one though, in blue.

If the owner fixes up the dents, puts the missing trim back on and slaps on a set of caps or alloys he'll have a nice looking car. 323's are common in my neighborhood alongside a 323F which has the pop up headlights.

You def should do an s12 next!!

I wish we got the hatch here in Australia, such a good looker for its time

The last two generations of Ford Escort used that same shifter and handbrake almost.

I had one (a '91) and loved the crap out of it. Drove it until the rear trailing arms rusted out and the wheels started falling off. Believe it or not you can fit a drum set and two 50W guitar amps in the back 😂 Mine had a weep in the valve cover gasket, so when you'd get on it some oil smoke would start coming out from under the hood. Ebery so often I pass a Mazda in a parking lot and get a whiff of that smell, it makes me miss my little 323.

My grandparents used to have a 323 as well same color but that was a Japanese version sedan with the miata turbo 1.6 dohc engine in manual also available in automatic not the us version hatchback in automatic also available in manual

Please review the 1986-88 Mazda B2000 Cab Plus (backseat model) next, this little truck is part of a series of trunks known as the B-series, the B2200 and the B2600i share basically the same design as the B2000.

No rust thats amazing.

cool car, u should check the colombian version of the 323

the radio has a metal button 😈

I learned to drive manual in a gold 323.

I have the 1.5 1999 model in manual, and that engine is straight up a smaller detuned na mx5 engine. Really fun and uncomplicated to drive, cheap and eazy to maintain, light and power ramps up at higher revs, complemented by short gears this thing is fast under the 100 km/h Has been abused and neglected before but has never let me down. Parts are plentiful, but not a lot of performance options. Eazy to work on too, just a lot of spare space under the hood and uncomplicated technology.

they’re ultra rare nowadays

I had a 1991. It was peppy for the time

My first car was a Mazda MX3... which was a rather-rare sport coupé version of this car. It had a stick and it had effectively the FWD variation of the 1.6 Miata engine... I wish I knew more about cars and was less timid back then because it was absolute fun to drive and I wish I carved canyons more with it... It even had passive rear wheel steering! (It was called TTL and was essentially rear suspension that pivoted/leaned/jiggled when you took a corner... actually, really cool because even if it was budget rear-wheel-steering, it worked and didn't break much) Naturally, now that I have essentially the same bones in RWD, I can hardly complain, but I will scream like a little fangirl if and when you can find and review an MX3! (Brace yourself, the rear seat was not a pleasant place to be)

Car and Driver was very fond of the 323 in their period reviews. It was a cheap economy car that was put together decently well and drove decently well. I love seeing 90s cheap cars still rolling around without the passenger mirror because it wasn't legally required. The styling vaguely looks like a Peugeot 205. Fun comparison.

I think the owner may need to get a new eyeglass prescription lol

My favorite cars are the humble trash buckets that get the job done in the most basic way

Have you had a chance to review a first Gen 323? Those were always my favorites. And as a Mazda fan go check out Car Wizard - he got an 86 626 turbo in his shop.

Beautiful rural 2 lane roads of New York STATE

I have an manual it's great but yea a few issues with the engine at nearly 300,000

Also, these not having an airbag or ABS kind of made it lag behind other cars.

One day. One day you'll review my cars :)

My 2010 Mazda 3 has a great heater as well. There’s been many times I’ve had it outside over night in below freezing weather and I’ll start the car up and within like 30 seconds I’ll have hot heat and the whole time I’ve had the car i put the heat on the lowest heat setting and it’s nice and warm. The Chrysler products with their big v6 engines I grew up with could no way do this.

323 likes here on 12/15/23 at 8:12pm ET

Basically the Ford Festiva's lost cousin lol.

I've wanted to do something absolutely dumb to a small car like this, make it an overpowered mid-engine sleeper with long-travel suspension that could be adjusted while driving using airbags or a hydraulic system to change it between low n' stiff to raised and soaky. It would pass as a shitty car on the street but it could transform into a trail buggy on demand.~

Auto Parts City has one the yard

I did not know that mazda 323F was so different car. Here it was more like poor man's sports car, a little bit like Dodge Neon with smaller engine.

My brothers buddy fuckin died in this in HS. Hit by truck from behind goin 60. Damn.

They made a GTR 323/familia

I just hate the part when he does the 'big frigging bottle test'. No car needs cup holders that size. Why don't you just set a contractor-sized Gatorade tank on the passenger seat with a sipping hose and be done with it, ffs??

im on the toilet rn and im battling really hard just wanted the world to know

Just lost my BG this year to the devil named rust. 1.6l auto in red and only 125t km.

It’s 1994, and I’m willing to pay for 2 nice big doors to frame me as I drive up and down the highway, but nothing else! I will not pay extra for the wasteful big hoods or the ridiculously oversized trunks. Not gonna do it! The rest of most cars is stupid stuff you don’t need.

Mercury Capris are the same thing - much better car

Why you car DENTED every where ...just like a car grom the CAVE ...! MINE 1984 STILL IN BEAUTY...LIKE NEW ...🎉