Mazda, the Japanese car maker is famous around the worlds for its elegant fleet of alluring cars. It brought out a subcompact car the Mazda 323, also called the Familia in its home country. Mazda 323 was manufactured from 1976 up until 2003. It was originally known as the GLC in the US, then the 323, and then came to be known as the Protégé in 1990. It is famous in South Africa as the Etude. These vehicles were built in Japan, and also they are assembled in other countries that include Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Colombia and New Zealand.

It became a favourite among US car magazines because of its spirited handling. Also, it had made a place in the automotive industry by being the first small Japanese car to cross over to the EPA “compact” class in 1990. Mazda, with this model also became the basis of other vehicles by manufacturers that included the Ford Laser and Meteor in Asia, Australia, and other markets.

The first Mazda 323 rolled off the streets in 1976 as a rear wheel drive model and was known in the United States as the Mazda GLC. This model was available in different bodies including a five-door four-seat hatch, a three-door four-seat hatch, a five-door four-seat station wagon, a three-door four-seat station wagon, and a three-door two-seat van with an extended roof profile.

The Mazda 323 is exquisitely designed and has a dynamically styled 5-door hatchback, and is also well-made, spacious and very reliable. It also offers an excellent driving position. It also has a forward folding backrest of the front passenger seat that could actually double as a picnic table that allows long loads to be carried in it. This car was replaced later by Mazda 3, which shares a platform with the current generation Volvo S40 and the new generation Ford Focus.

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Tags: US, Taiwan, Mazda 323, Mazda 3, Volvo S40, New Zealand, South Africa, Malaysia, Colombia, Mazda GLC

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 at 6:34 pm and is filed under Mazda. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.