rare 323

[quatelate]

hey guys i was wondering what year of the 323 was 4wd and turbo and how many were brought to the us... i heard they rare

 

[turpro]

86-89 i believe. they had the engine code b6t.

 

[quatelate]

86-89 i believe. they had the engine code b6t.

cool man thanks... by ne chance do u know what u could get one for

 

[MrDiggler]

hey guys i was wondering what year of the 323 was 4wd and turbo and how many were brought to the us... i heard they rare

It was called the 323 GTX, and they made them in '88 and '89. I used to own an '88 model. I think production was around 1500 units for each year, but I can't remember for sure. Motor was the 1.6 liter B6T with 132 hp / 136 tq. I had an HKS exhaust on mine, which helps those cars tremendously. I painted it teal green, which at that time didn't exist on a production car. Of course, 4 months later GM rolls out the Beretta and Camaro in teal green. I was so pissed. It better not happen with my spicy orange MSP!

I love my MSP, but definitely no more than I loved that GTX. It was an incredible car. Nothing like running wide open in 3rd gear up a mountain road in the snow...throwing 4 big white rooster tails! I'm no rally driver either. The car just rotated for you with little or no effort, and would NOT spin. I never could get it to swap ends. Back when these came out there were no DSM Eclipse/Talon AWD cars or WRX's. Other than the Audi Quattro, this was the closest to an affordable rally car you could get in the states. Affordable being loosely interpreted, because they cost over $16,000, which was a lot back then...even more than the RX-7 cost. Dealers had a hard time selling them, which turned Mazda off on the idea. I picked mine up with a rebuilt title and 35k on the clock for $7,800 in 1990 and drove it for 4 years until it was stolen and stripped.

My two favorite things about it (besides the chassis dynamics) were the seats (genuine Recaros, OMG what I wouldn't give to find a set to drop in my MSP) and the fact that it had this little vent under the steering wheel. Imagine how nice it is to direct a cold blast of A/C down your shorts leg on a 98 degree day!! Man, I miss mine.

I could ramble for days about these cars. Feel free to PM me for more info.

 

[POSEIDON]

A friend of mine in connecticut has a 1st Gen 4WD Protege Sedan. N/A, although it's boosted now. I don't remember the year, I'd assume somewhere between 89-91.

 

[MrDiggler]

Update- I found you a good link. There were 1,243 sold in the U.S.

Also check out a link on this page to sturtevant.com, which is a great place to find one used.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm

 

[quatelate]

wow guys thanks alot for all the info... i soo want 1 now

 

[Protephile]

Update- I found you a good link. There were 1,243 sold in the U.S.

Also check out a link on this page to sturtevant.com, which is a great place to find one used.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm

Great link, thanks. One of my favorite Japanese imports ever.

 

[chuyler1]

The car has a cult following. If there is one for sale it will usually pop-up on one of the 323 GTX mailing lists or forums...

Try joining this one and posting a message:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/323gtx/

 

[MrDiggler]

Yeah, I'm starting to get fired up about one again! I know where a killer one is for sale that's had the 1.8 BP transplant and a bunch of other stuff, but I'm keeping that secret until I decide whether I want one again. Sorry!

*edit* I can pass on the info to you about that one now. I just found out it doesn't have A/C, so I wouldn't be interested. (I live in the South, lol.) It's a bad-ass car though, and has been upgraded to a 1.8 motor and tranny, which is supposed to be considerably stronger than the 1.6 tranny. It would probably save you money in the long run. It has a bunch of other upgrades as well, and runs 5-lug MP3 Racing Harts. If you're interested, call Derek at Corksport. www.corksport.com

Here's another good 323 link for you: http://www.mazda323performance.com/default.htm

 

[quatelate]

too bad i dont have money right now... in about a year or so im gonna go after 1

 

[Captain KRM P5]

http://sturtevant.com/323gtx/forsale.htm

 

[Salmon_Rob]

A friend of mine in connecticut has a 1st Gen 4WD Protege Sedan. N/A, although it's boosted now. I don't remember the year, I'd assume somewhere between 89-91.

jons is a 90 or 91. the awd 1g sedan is a different style than the 323 gtx of which they speak. there were both gtx and gtr version of the 1g 323 hatch (90-94) and there was a gtx sedan (awd turbo) offered elsewhere.

 

[JOMO]

I would like to get my hands on one of those. Maybe a future project car in a few years.

 

[MrDiggler]

jons is a 90 or 91. the awd 1g sedan is a different style than the 323 gtx of which they speak. there were both gtx and gtr version of the 1g 323 hatch (90-94) and there was a gtx sedan (awd turbo) offered elsewhere.

No doubt, I didn't think to mention the AWD sedans to him. Those are pretty darn rare as well. I've been wondering if it might be possible to swap the sedan AWD setup into my MSP, or even use it to convert the MSP to RWD. Can you imagine how awesome that would be? I know it would take some work, but the Protege is still a 323 platform car. There has to be a way.

 

[MPSpeedSeraph]

AWD / RWD MSP = teh sex (humpleg)

Seriously I'd go all over that lol