Here is a 1967 Mazda 1500, a car that has been covered before on Curbside Classic. While it is a definitely a welcome find to see an uncommon but not exactly super-rare car, read on to see why this was a case of déjà vu.
This is the other CC find, where things can’t be a coincidence – a 1968 1500 wagon! What are the odds that they belong to the same owner? I wouldn’t bet against it. These photos were taken roughly 12 months apart.
In case you were still doubtful, the two cars were shot on either side of the same driveway.
If you haven’t read Don Andreina’s excellent history of the Mazda Luce and its connection with Bertone and Alfa Romeo, you really should – here is a link.
Great finds John. Same owner for sure. A very attractive design in sedan and wagon form. Reminds me in some design details of the Saab 99.
It reminds me even more of a BMW Bavaria. I agree, it’s a beauty
Yup, “Bavaria” sprang immediately to mind when I saw the first pic.
Thanks, I had not considered either of those, nor the Fulvia Matt suggested.
At 1st glance, I thought Audi 100 LS.
Very timely given The Professor’s article on the 100 yesterday!
A great find(s)! I have never seen one of these, so really enjoy when they get posted. I also appreciate the links to other info, amazing the rabbit holes I end up down from those!
To me it looks like a Lancia Fulvia and a BMW Bavaria had a baby!
,Cool cars one of the better Japanese cars of their era, There a small herd of them in Hobart all belonging to the same guy different models but of the same car visually, it would not surprise me if these were owned by the same person and the wagon is extra nice and quite rare Ive only seen one no not that one it was blue and in a wrecking yard it gave up its brake master cylinder to get one of its bros a RWC.
Truly a Japanese BMW. I like it.
Don’t know. My choice for a Japanese BMW would probably be the original Datsun 510…
Ok, I agree that the 510 drove like a BMW but this Mazda looked like one.
Looked better than a BMW, IMHO.
If only the Mazdas of this era had better suspension, like the 510/1600.
Such beautiful cars. I went back and read Don Andreina’s article and now I understand why I generally find Mazda cars so attractive, especially in comparison to those that come from Toyota or Nissan. They have a really, really good pedigree.
Toyota and Nissan used Italian stylists in the early days too, but I would say that during the 1970s Mazda had better looking cars overall.
So many Japanese sedans from the mid- to late-1960s were so neatly styled like this one, on a par with and maybe better than Europe’s best. What happened that turned all of these into lumpy, frumpy eyesores less than a decade later?
I almost said ‘they started using their own designs’, but that’d be a cheap shot. And untrue after reading Don Andreina’s masterwork on the design of these cars. Much has been written and theorized about the decline of Japanese car design into overstyled and overdecorated excess. A similar thing happened in the nineties – clean designs and then – wham! Flat on their face again. It’s like they reach a pinnacle and then lose their way, casting around in all directions to find the next step forward – and miss it.
Because the 1970s. Generally a bad taste decade for car design, most (not not all) music, fashion and last but not least, hair styles 👿.
Beautiful – even as a kid I loved these. I still have the handout from the Melbourne motor show the year these debuted. Much prettier than the Capella that replaced them, and probably responsible for my lifelong soft spot for Mazdas.
Interesting to see they’re both on their original 1967 plates rather than on historic registration. Either the owner’s not in a club or uses them a lot.
I would guess that the owner wants to keep the original plates on the cars, you can’t do that with a club permit. It is an expensive choice though, about 6-7 times the cost.
Back on the late 1980s when I had my first car, a Fiat 125 Special, I went to a friend’s house. He has bought an original unrestored Mazda 1500 SS. It had some small cosmetic blemishes here and there but wouldn’t have needed much work to bring it up to excellent condition. It was quite obvious to me that the fit and finish and solidity was in another league to my Fiat.
He had also bought another rough Mazda 1800 and was transplanting several parts to the 1500 SS, for example the 1800 engine with the SS twin carburettor fitted, the vented bonnet, the larger tail lights. He had also installed a 5 speed from a Mazda 121.
Mazda also made an 1800 wagon but they were never sold here.
Of course the ultimate 1500 (Luce) is the FWD Luce rotary hardtop. 👌
It amazes me that the coupe was fwd, I suppose it was a bit of an experiment for Mazda as their first fwd car
It’s funny, antisuv, how prejudice can work. If you look at road tests of 125’s (and others) it’s striking that they mention how well-finished the old “name-brand” Fiats always are. When they’re testing something like the generic Jap-brand (at the time) Mazda, they mention “usual Japanese good finish” in a way that’s almost begrudging.
Ofcourse, history has proved them blindly wrong, as your observations of ownership bear out.
That’s exactly right JB. I have several old Wheels and Modern Motor road tests of the 125 and other Fiat’s of the era and they invariable state the the finish was very good.
Now the 125 S in the context of relatively affordable cars of the period did look very smart when new with its cloth interior and Chromadora alloys (standard in Australia) wood dashboard (if it was the B model like mine) but I do get the feeling the road testers evuation wee based more on the perceived brand equity at the time than anything more objective. Just about every Japanese car of the period, whilst well equipped as such, didn’t usually have a lot of showroom appeal. JDM versions wee an exception as they had features like cloth seats and heated rear windows that appears 5 years later on models sold here.
My particular 125S wasn’t too bad (for a Fiat) as it was pretty reliable, never had too much rust, still had the original (and surprisingly hard wearing) cloth seats, and no rattles but my friend’s Mazda 1500SS/1800 hybrid had much thicker paint, thicker panels, steel/aluminium front seat adjusters instead of plastic, a front bonnet (similarly front hinged with the 125) that “closed with the precision of a bank vault” as one road test I recall, and many other details that was indicative of its higher level of quality.
Parallel COAL. My parents bought a 125S as their first new car, circa 1970.
The New Guinea spec ones lacked the tacho and the gorgeous Chromadora wheels. Why? Beats me. The 125 became my first car in 1978. I had a good mate with a Mazda 1500,and I don’t remember being impressed that the fit or finish was any better than my 125. Both cars were 9-10 years old at the time.
The Fiat had 4 wheel discs, a five speed, versus the Mazda’s all drum ( I think-it’s 40 years ago!) and 4 on the column. No comparision. Until recently I had a copy of Wheel Magazine where they tested the Mazda 1500 SS. A full point more in compression, an extra 2 bbl carby, and the 1500 still couldn’t match the 125S 100 HP And Mazda were using SAE gross HP, not the Fiat’s DIN.
You find some amazing cars on this site! What I really like about this Mazda is the large tires/wheel openings relative to the overall size of the car, gives it a very aggressive & confident, BMW-like stance. So many cars of this era (domestics included) have such tiny wheels they look like they are tip-toeing around.
The original L10 Cosmo was a looker too.
What finds, both on original plates. For Cc readers eleswhere, that means it’s highly likely they’ve never been off the road in 50 years.
These are a good deal lovelier than Mazda’s ’70’s baroque offerings immediately following them, but I have one reservation. I want that roof about an inch lower, just to remove an ever-so-slightly distracting sense that the Pope might be able to stand inside. (Not bothered that it’s the Pope, you understand, but I’d prefer him to have to crouch).
It looks an industrial/small factory area: is it near a Mazda specialist, john?
The Capella was the only non Baroque 1970s Mazda and I’ve always liked it, but for some reason I really like the pre face lift RX4/929s too.
I actually worked it out, it’s from Moorabbin, I was there for a car club organisation meeting (Association of Motoring Clubs). They’ve since changed venues actually.