To close this Week of Small JDM curios, what could be better than Autozam, a marque whose brief existence personified the concept of strange and petite on this market in the ‘90s? It’s been a while since we’ve had a look at Mazda’s hubristic adventures in brand-creating, which started as a notion to become a Japanese GM and ended up in the company Sloane-laddering their way to near bankruptcy.
The car itself may not be so unknown to some of you, as these were fairly popular in places like Australia or Europe under the name Mazda 121. Alas, success abroad was not to be mirrored by domestic acclaim, as this post’s title hinted.
It had all started so well for the little four-door. Unveiled in September 1990, mere months after the official launch of the Autozam marque, the Revue had been the subject of much thought on the part of Mazda, both in terms of its bubbly appearance and its parsimonious construction. The latter was evidenced by the simplicity of the dash, the lack of body variants, or the fact that power windows were simply not an option for the rear passengers.
The concept was sound, if a little unconventional. The Revue was to offer as much interior space as possible thanks to a long wheelbase and a high roof, while being small and yet retain the traditional three-box design. Well, almost – they called it the 2.5-box design, but it wasn’t a hatchback. It was sold to the Japanese public as “the world’s smallest sedan” and with only 3.8 meters in total length, it was certainly not huge.
The lack of a body variant and cheap construction alluded to above were at least partially offset by the presence of a sophisticated three-position power-operated fabric roof option. These were really having a moment in the ‘90s.
Like any JDM car, the Revue was offered in a multitude of grades – Special S, S1, Special K, K1, Luna K… Cuir (French for “leather”) was an option, though probably a rarely picked one on the JDM.
The platform was closely linked (but not strictly identical) to the Ford Festiva, featuring the same engines. The S grade cars, as far as I can tell, were powered by a 76hp 1.3 litre 4-cyl., while the more upmarket K grade had access to the 88hp 1.5 litre engine. Both could be coupled to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic.
I’m not 100% certain of this, but I believe these seven-spoke wheel covers denote a post-1993 K-class car. I like the little “Autozam” script on the hub, which stayed on there until a Mazda logo replaced it in late 1996.
The target audience for the Revue was chiefly female, just like the smaller Autozam Carol. But whereas the Carol made a lot of sense for city-dwelling women, being a very cute two-door kei car with lots of cool gadgets, the Revue failed to appeal as much. Maybe the somewhat pedestrian interior, which didn’t really mesh with the bubbly body, was at fault.
This was also perhaps too much car for the intended clientele: women favoured coupés and hatchbacks, not four-door sedans. Even with a canvas top. And because these were obviously aimed at women, men tended to avoid them (cooties, I suppose). As a result, the Autozam (and later Mazda) Revue sold fewer than 58k units by the time it production was halted in December 1997. And the last cars in stock were only sold by the summer of the next year.
On the international scene though, the Mazda 121 was quite a little hit, particularly in Germany and the UK. Alas, even there, Mazda managed to shoot themselves in the foot: the 121 sold like hotcakes, but each one that was imported there took the place of a far more remunerative Miata, 626 or Xedos, so Mazda’s quotas never matched demand.
Mazda toyed with the idea of using the Revue as a base for a hip-looking commercial van, following in the footsteps of the Citroën 2CV it clearly channelled in many ways. The company’s experimental M2 division built the 1004 van in 1991, but amidst the whole multi-marque debacle that was unfolding at the time, the idea was abandoned. But not entirely forgotten.
Mazda realized that the Revue had badly misfired, but that it was mostly a question of image (at least for the JDM), so they used the car’s very satisfactory platform and turned the cutesy Autozam into the butch DW Demio tall wagon (a.k.a the 121 in most overseas markets), launched in 1996. This was one of the best rebodies ever devised, certainly as far as domestic sales were concerned, allowing Mazda to finally come out of the funk they had been in since about 1990.
Today, the Autozam marque is chiefly remembered because of the charismatic AZ-1 and the adorable Carol, but there are a few Revues still puttering about here and there, if you look long and hard enough. These cars are as durable as anything Toyota ever made, and with fewer gadgets to go wrong (aside from that power fabric top, which our feature car predictably does not have), the survival rate must be relatively high.
Now that we’ve reviewed the Revue, the next Autozam on my personal hit list would be the Clef – the short-lived marque’s only luxury car. Finding one will be the real challenge, as I don’t think they broke the five-figure barrier, in terms of units made. Wish me luck.
Related post:
Curbside Capsule: 1990-97 Mazda 121 – A Bubbly Design That Really Pops, by William Stopford
Very interesting essay because you explain what can cause a car to fail, of which this car had many factors including taking the sales away from more profitable Mazda cars in its market. Thanks.
Just 58k over 7 years? I never knew these sold so poorly in Japan. There used to be a few 121-s around in Europe in the 90s-00s, yes. That truncated sedan shape was memorable as it was quite unique. Odd, but likeable in a way – very Mazda in that sense. And I remember these from NZ as well, they weren’t uncommon when I was staying there about 10 years ago. You’d come across both versions there, the Mazda 121 (those were the ones officially sold there, I assume) and Autozam Revue (second hand imports from Japan, as are half of the cars in NZ). A guy I was working with had an Autozam his wife used to drive, but it’d blown its head gasket and now it was sitting at his farm, abandoned and waiting to get fixed. Apart from an interesting badge, it seemed pretty much the same as a 121.
Very popular briefly in Aussie those 121s were everywhere, NZ too including ex JDM Autozams now there are none, Disposable cars.
Interesting little car I have not heard of before. I am surprised it was not more successful as even with four doors it does have quite a cute vibe to it. It does have a very tall roof in appearance. I am surprised Mitsuoka did not create a variant on it. 🙂
Though not the biggest hit, not unusual in Europe. Often the sleds of housewives or students.
And old people trundling along at about two thirds of the speed limit.