The Curbside Cohort is full of wonderful finds and brilliant photography and I highly recommend you visit it. But even if Mike Hayes had taken these photographs with a 10-year old cell phone with vaseline smeared on the lens, I would still feel compelled to share these with you.
Usually, when I look at photographs of art cars I’m underwhelmed. “Oh, look,” I say wearily, “Somebody stuck a bunch of crap on a Taurus.” Now, this is indeed an old car with a lot of stuff stuck on it but the end result is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
I think what makes this even more intriguing to the eyes is they used a Mazda 626. I don’t see too many of this generation around anymore, even in Brisbane where the climate is conducive to keeping old cars rust-free.
I should think that in Seattle, where I believe these photographs were taken, you would have slightly worse odds for finding a 626 of this era. Artistic Media Group evidently found one and, while I would prefer the remaining 626 coupes of this generation remain unmolested, they managed to construct an intriguing art car.
Just don’t try and take this yellow “submarine” underwater.
The Deathmobile would be more entertaining to drive and be seen in. This is just strange.
The owner has probably kept it so long because he is underwater on it. 🙂
I love the old 626’s. The two that I have had from this generation had the rear strut towers rust away. Severely compromising the structural integrity of the car.
These really were great cars.
The loon boat in the background being towed by the yellow sub would be quite a sight.
Mazda’s first North American market was the Pacific Northwest (first British Columbia, then Washington and Oregon in the US) and I suspect that Mazda had built up some loyalty in that area that may have resulted in greater sales per capita of Mazdas than in other areas.
On a more micro scale, something similar happened where I grew up. For whatever reason, we didn’t have a nearby Toyota or Datsun/Nissan dealer but we got a Mazda dealer in the early 70s. Even well into the early 90s, by which time we had local Toyota, Nissan, and Honda dealers, Mazdas remained far more popular in the area than national sales figures would have suggested.
Biodegradable cooling systems put these off the road in droves they were nigh on impossible to sell unless you could prove a recent head gasket change, the previous RWD model was a great car these not so much, nice to see a survivor.
Must be something in the water down under because these did not have a reputation for blowing head gaskets. I think I did one back when these were still common. Hondas were magnitudes more likely to blow their head gaskets.
I’d go so far as to say they were the best car in their class at the time. Great balance of ride vs handling, reliable, durable, nicer interior materials, and better equipped than a comparable Honda, Toyota or Nissan.
Have to agree with that. I had an 86, my girlfriend then bought an 86, my mother had an 89 and I now have a 90 and 91. Only my 86, at 250,000, had an issue and it turned out to be corrosion creating a small depression in the head to allow coolant into a cylinder. These were well made and underrated cars due to the glow of Accord and Camry.
Interesting, everyone I knew who had a 626 or Telstar couldnt get shot it fast enough, but they were hard to sell due to a bad rep for overheating, bore water in the bush may have helped that rep to grow, I dont they just werent keepers.
I gotta give kudos to the owner for his mod creativity and craftsmanship; it actually looks pretty good and “functional”.
But I also gotta say it falls under the category of “one of the most ridiculous modifications I’ve ever seen.” If only it was really functional.
MarcKyle64’s “Deathmobile” is even more ridiculous…..but all in good fun, no doubt.
Glad to see some more of my photos being used! I did indeed find the Yellow Submarine in Seattle, in Ballard to be precise. The portholes reminded me of the opera windows on 1970s luxury cars, which I guess make it a Personal Luxury Submarine.
The death mobile is from the movie Animal House.
a few columns back we had a discussion on some of the most ridiculous modifications we had seen on cars….
I THINK WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
Except that in America the 2door version is called the MX-6. Semantics perhaps, but still true…
Not in this generation. The first two generations were called 626 in the US regardless of the number of doors.
The 626 suffered the cooling system problems that killed engines / head gaskets in droves , most of the folks / Customers I knew who owned them loved them and were sad to see them go .
I like the whimsical aspect of this crazy art car .
-Nate
Being a 2-door, it would be slightly harder to get your friends all aboard. It is quite fantastic though! I wonder if that pole-mounted…thing is removable for driving on the street?