The term ‘coupé’ sometimes appears on cars, where that is actually questionable. That is not just something of today. The Mazda 323C, where the C stood for ‘coupé’, proves that.
Give a car a sloping roofline at the rear and it’s a coupe. At least that seems to be the belief of many car manufacturers at the moment. Certainly with SUVs, the designation ‘coupé’ is thrown every once in a while, where you can very much wonder whether that is justified. Already 25 years ago a similar discussion arose about the term ‘coupé’ when Mazda used it for the 323C. Because of its high and stubby bottom with hatchback tailgate, it is not exactly the first model that comes to mind when you think of a typical coupe.
The 323C was therefore not entirely easy to catch and that made the compact Japanese special. In addition, the 323C was nothing like its more conventional 323 relatives. The 323F, the five-door fastback, came closest. Mazda also moved to different bases for the 323 series, so the 323, 323C and 323F were only related to each other to a certain extent. Anyone who walked into the Mazda dealership for a compact mid-range car at the time, at least had a pretty rich palette to choose from.
In 1997 someone took the plunge and signed the purchase contract for this green-blue Mazda 323C. As you might reasonably expect from Mazdas, they could last quite a long time. This one is still there 24 years later and was spotted by AutoWeek forum member HarmenA. The Mazda stickers don’t seem original to us and the wheels are certainly not, but hey, it’s been nice to see a 323C again. Not that many have been sold, it was only available in the Netherlands for a little over two years, and of all copies sold there seem to be just over 130 left. Incidentally, this is the entry-level model, the 1.3i LX.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl