Pop quiz: what was the first Mazda convertible ever produced? Not the Miata, neither the RX-7 – no, that ragtop to riches story started with the humble Familia, a.k.a 323, Ford Laser and a few other aliases. As far as I know, only the JDM was allowed this particular variant, and yet because it was rather expensive, folks stayed away and sales were minimal. Maybe that’s why only this generation of Familia was scalped. But it gave Mazda a taste for convertibles that has remained strong ever since.
The 6th generation Familia (and 2nd generation FWD Familia) was unveiled in Japan in January 1985. The BF Familia followed in its predecessor’s footsteps, but expanded the range quite significantly – the cabriolet, which only arrived in March 1986, was just a part of that.
From the plainest 1.3 litre notchback sedan to the famous turbocharged GTX hatchback, the Familia had numerous members. And the above 1986 brochure excerpt doesn’t show the long-roof variants, which included the blue-collar “van” or the more passenger-oriented wagons.
There was also a Ford Laser clone for pretty much the whole range, including the cabriolet. This body style was very rare in Japanese production at the time: the Nissan Pulsar Exa and the Honda City were the only ones around (I believe) when the Mazda/Ford drop-top dropped.
The very first Cabriolets had a turbocharged 100hp 1.5 litre mated to a 5-speed manual, but that was soon upped to a (non-turbo) 110hp 1.6 litre and a 4-speed automatic. The AWD drivetrain was never available on the convertible, but then it wasn’t supposed to be anything even approaching a sports car. That was the GTX’s job. Everyone had their lane.
We’ve seen our fair share of ‘80s “basket handle” hatchback-based cabriolets on CC, lately. The VW Golf of course – the one that kind of started it all, but also the Talbot Samba, the Honda City and the Opel Kadett. Oddly enough, our little Familia here might be the only really handsome one of the bunch, yet it’s the only one not bearing the badge of a famous coachbuilder.
The interior can best be described as “acceptable for the ‘80s,” to recycle a well-worn cliché. A symphony in greyscale. Those are (ancient) seat covers, by the way – the actual upholstery also sports various shades of grey, but not with this pattern.
It’s a real tight fit back here. As I recall, the older couple who emerged from this car were accompanied by some sort of canine. Don’t ask me what brand, I’m not a dog person, but it wasn’t as small as a chihuahua, though not quite as large as a St-Bernard. And it had fur and a tail. Hope that narrows it down.
The Cabriolet, not surprisingly, sat at the apex of the Familia range – higher than the GTX, even. At a few thousand under ¥2m per pop, the Familia convertible was certainly priced in a different category than its stablemates. You could get a nicely appointed Toyota Mark II for that sum in 1988, and many went ahead and did just that. The allure of open-air motoring for two was perhaps not as strong as the attraction of a straight-6 and a real back seat.
As a result, Mazda sold very few Familia Cabriolets between 1986 and 1989, and certainly never repeated the experience. Unfortunately, and despite a fair amount of online digging, I haven’t found anything to indicate how many of these were made, but every article seems to agree that this was a small number and that “very few” remain. It’s certainly the only one I’ve ever seen, but I’m guessing the Ford Laser version would be the real unicorn.
Not everyone could beat the Golf at its own game. The rest of the Famila BF range had enough success both at home and abroad to drown this small mishap into an ocean of cash. Was said small mishap unavoidable? Mazda never tried to export this variant, probably because of the appreciation of the yen in the late ‘80s. The Cabriolet’s price would have made it just as uncompetitive overseas as it was at home. And perhaps scaling up production would have been problematic in any case — I don’t know where these convertibles were made exactly, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mazda had subcontracted the job to some specialist, like Nissan did with Takada.
Still, it does look better than almost any of its peers, bar maybe the Peugeot 205. I maintain that there is a universe in which a Mazda 323 Cabriolet with a turbo engine and a manual gearbox has found a dedicated fanbase in Europe and North America. It’s just not the reality we occupy presently. Instead, we live in a world where Mazda designed a RWD roadster from the ground up (using the exact same engine as in this Familia Cabriolet, as I understand it) and took over a lucrative niche stupidly abandoned by the Brits in the early ‘80s. When at first you don’t succeed…
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1988 Mazda 323 – A Better Little (And Very Basic) Car, by Ben Dinger
Curbside Classic: 1989 Ford Laser (BF) Van – Blue Collar Blue Oval, by T87
CC For Sale: 1986 Mazda 323 Wagon with 32,241 Miles – For $5,988 You Can Relive 1986, by PN
Cohort Sighting: 1988/89 Mazda 323 GT – One Of 800 Imported, by Perry Shoar
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: Mazda 323 SE Hatchback – Flashback, by PN
COAL: 1988 Mazda 323 GTX – Mom’s Rally Car, by Eric703
COAL: 1986 Mazda 323 DX Hatchback – My Great Little Car, by Wolfgang
Race Cars Of A Lifetime: 1988 Mazda 323 GT, by Jeff Jordan
From the front and rear I’m put in mind of the Escort XR3 convertible which I like a lot and whose proportions I find to be just about perfect. From the side though this looks “off” and perhaps it’s due to the Familia/323 never having been sold as a 2door with a trunk or at least trunklet bend to the rear, as a result this (to me) looks somewhat alien, maybe the hood is too long…so ultimately almost any of the others would be preferable. The 205 works very well as a cabrio, this reminds me more of the 309 of the same era which I thought was available as a cabrio but now I can’t find any pix of one so perhaps not.
It is though a variant I was not aware of prior to today, so a very good spot, and interesting to still see on the road. The Shaken doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as concerning to deal with as the internet would have you believe, seeing as how this (and plenty of other cars seen about) aren’t particularly “investment grade”, just trusty day to day steeds that admittedly don’t often see huge mileages, perhaps more in line with Germany’s TuV that while cause for some anxiety at times, does result in generally well maintained machinery without obvious faults that are unaddressed for ages or forever.
I thought it looked like the contemporary European Escort cabriolets too, which went to 2 generations. I thought Karmann had a hand in those, but could be mistaken.
I also never understood the relationship between the same sized US Fords, Mazdas and European Fords, it seemed a waste of engineering time to design so many similar but different cars.
Were you thinking of the Peugeot 305 cabriolet? Which was a Pininfarina and a lot nicer than the subsequent folding hardtop Peugeots.
From the side, this reminded me of the Dodge Shadow convertible, particularly in this top-up shot, since the Shadow didn’t have a basket handle.
Regardless, this car fascinates me – despite being a 323 fan, and a former GTX owner, I was unaware of this Cabriolet version. Very neat find!
Absolutely agree with Jim’s assessment of the aesthetics, and was going to write the same until he made me irrelevant (which is actually a promotion, so thank you Jim).
To Hummel, I’d say Prof T87 IS talking of the 205 Cti, which is another basket-handle job (by Pinin, I think), and I really rather like it too.
Because it’s based on a coupe rather than a hatch, I think it works better than the Golf Cabriolet. Makes me wonder what might have been if VW had based their convertible on the 2-door Jetta.
That’s a new one for me. Frankly, I just never found any of these Golf-class cabrios very appealing. Can’t quite put my finger on just why, but they just don’t seem to make the transition very successfully. They always end up looking like an aftermarket conversion, which is frankly what they effectively were.
It looks like the love child of an Escort convertible and the Astra convertible, to the extent that I was checking if it is actually the Mk 3 European Escort roof…..but mostly I’m with Paul on this format.
Still a nice find and an interesting write up.
There mightn’t have been that many made, but boy oh boy I suspect all of them, and their Ford Laser sibling, ended up emigrating to New Zealand through the 1990s/2000s… It seemed like they were everywhere, usually white with a tear in the rear side of the roof. Still the odd one around. They look a bit too stumpy for my liking, unlike that pretty Peugeot I photographed all those years ago!
As mentioned above, I cannot support Prof T’s view on the looks of this thing, with the caveat that he’s actually seen this in the metal, wherein it might transmogrify, as some shapes are wont to do. (My Exhibit 1 on this is always the Citroen SM: bit of a mess in pics, just outrageous and stunning in reality).
These can only have been pretty atrocious. The fixed-head jobs – no, I didn’t intend that, do grow up – were already almighty creakers n’ groaners, so much so that a goodly fling down a bumpy country road could even get the “door ajar” light blinking on and off as the various apertures threatened to arpet. Nice cars, mind, but just not made of W123, as it were.
Which version did you try Justy? the Australian built Ford Laser which is lighter than the Mazda 323 or a Japanese original, they arent the same the weight difference should point to why.
Dear Justy of Baum, I always enjoy your commenting prowess, but you’ve outdone yourself with ‘apertures threatening to apert’… Simply sublime, and had I not just finished my G&T, I’d have spat it all over the screen in fits of laughter. Righto, as you were…
As Scott said its hard to convince me these were rare there were so many around, Ford AU butchered this car into the new Capri which was exported to the US as a Mercury this is what they began with.