Rx323

[FD3SNuttah]

WHERE DID YOU FIND IT!!!!!!


my older brother had one when i was a kid, my dad bought it for 300 quid and it was a total rust bucket, he spent hours and hours sorting out the rust and finally it was looking good, until one day the engine just wouldnt start anymore, so we stashed it in the back alleys and some local kids smashed it to pieces.

It was a fun car to be in, (i drove it when i was 11) down the straight mile in doncaster, i got it up to 60 mph and jeez i **** myself! if only i knew about rotors back then i would have got him to keep it for me.

However i do own a 1980 mitsubishi sigma, its a 2.0 rear wheel drive, if i find a cheap rotory engine guess where its going!!! I will dig out some pics if you lot are interested, I have a hynes manual for htat rear wheel drive 323 if anyone is going to make me an offer, i believe its in pretty good nick.

[MikeLMR]

it got spotted on ebay where else do rare cars come from these days

I already have a mint haynes manual thanks to my Dad who had an estate when I was younger. Thanks anyway.

[FD3SNuttah]

lol no worries, your right about rare finds on ebay. i cant believe i missed it! just outta interest how much did it go for?

[MikeLMR]

check the oldschool section for a couple of threads about it its

under an odd title I think !

[FD3SNuttah]

Originally posted by MikeLMR
check the oldschool section for a couple of threads about it its

under an odd title I think !

lol thats helpful! i will have a bash at searching,

[FD3SNuttah]

found it... cant believe the price you paid for it,. your well jammy!

[MikeLMR]

found this piccy the other day ... wonder who the welsh chap behind the wheel is :p  Not a rotary ... but a worthy photo 10/10 :cool

[Moonwrap]

Hi!

I\'m also very into 323\'s We used to have a MK 1 RWD and I still have a 24 year old MKII FWD we\'ve had from new!

I have a collection of original Mazda promo and press photos, some are 323 rally cars - I\'ll have a hunt for them

I never knew they\'d ever had rotary engines in them though - that\'s a real revelation!!!!

Lynn
:wave

PS Archbish if the 323 was a Ford it would be an Escort not a Fiesta!

[MikeLMR]

Hi Lynn,
             they were never sold in any great numbers with a rotary engine ... but its easy enough to swap them in

If you could find those photos that\'d be ace.

And you are spot on with the escort ... The BG 323\'s were sold with a ford badge and called an escort in the US of A

Cheers ~ Mike

[Moonwrap]

Originally posted by MikeLMR
Hi Lynn,
             they were never sold in any great numbers with a rotary engine ... but its easy enough to swap them in

If you could find those photos that\'d be ace.

And you are spot on with the escort ... The BG 323\'s were sold with a ford badge and called an escort in the US of A

Cheers ~ Mike

Hi Mike

Just in the process of moving house, so unfortunately, everything is everywhere  I\'ll have a proper hunt for the pics at the weekend

Ours was an "S" reg in red, we used to call it "the fire engine" - it was a great little car. Before that we had an orange "M" reg 818  Both were our family cars when I was a child

So it was your yellow MKI 323 at RSII - very lovely, that was amazing for me looking at that - a real retro trip!  So are you planning to put a rotary engine in this one, or leave it as it is?  Is that the original paint by the way on your car?

My 24 year old MKII is doing quite well, it\'s only done about 80K though from new, that car has paid for itself a million times over!

Lynn

[MikeLMR]

Its not the original paint, it was resprayed about 15 years ago by Mazda as it had faded ... but yes it was that colour orignally

I am planning on swapping in a rotary, but I wouldn\'t do anything ireversable to such a rare car.  Driving it is like being in a timewarp ... trouble is I find people aren\'t very tolerant of old cars and tend to either pull out in front of you or have a go when you are sat at 60 on a motorway :rolleyes:  (in the inside lane btw!)

Mike

[MikeLMR]

Got another piccy of the car that started all this off in my head a long time ago

and some more info, it was driven and owned by a chap called Carl Lawrence ... plus I have found out where I can contact him

[MikeLMR]

better photo

[NixRX7]

Maybe my brain is going but i am sure i went to look at a very early 323 that was 4wd, this was about 10 years or more ago, and i am sure the guy selling it was waffling on about not wanting to sell it because he was going to stick a rotary engine in.
I did\'nt buy it by the way, tho i was tempted.

[MikeLMR]

they built quite a lot of 4x4 323\'s both in BF and BG guise (late 80\'s - mid 90\'s)

Mazda competed in the WRC for quite a while with them