Does anybody remember sport compact car's project 323 GTX? Let me refresh your memory:
This beater of a 323 (aren't they all?) was turned into a lightly modified, rally cross/fun little hatchback for very cheap, producing a reasonable power bump over the stock 323. If I remember right it, and i usually don't, was something like 150hp at the wheels. That project car, in a addition to my rally obsession, put the 323 GTX near the top of my list of cars i want. The problem is, i was around 14 years old. Through the years, cars have fallen from my 'list,' but a few remain, including the GTX. Unfortunately most of the GTX's i see now have turned into this:
Or, much worse, this:
That particular one had a garage fall on it, but judging by the rust, it wasn't exactly showroom new to begin with.
About the nicest one i've seen for sale, found here: http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-mazda-323-gtx/ is still high mileage and sports a number of modifications, like a best buy stereo system, some struts, and exhaust, and a "partially installed boost gauge" which raises some questions... the $6500 selling price tells me the value is starting to climb, usually a bad sign for me.
Eventually i stopped paying attention, all hope was lost. It would seem unmodified, unmolested, rust hole-free, low mileage 323 GTX's no longer exist.
Oh, except this one 
:
Yes, 40,900 miles. These pics are old, it has 41,900 now, and yes, that is a sweet, sweet 1980's digital dash.
I spotted it during a course walk at watkins glen (autox, the track itself is closed). It was parked next to a shelby cobra which i didn't even notice for a moment. It turns out this GTX, and the FC RX7 the owner was racing were for sale, he's leaving the country. I snatched it up for way less than that white one in the bring a trailer link above, like thousands less (signed papers literally as he was going to the airport, his RX7 full of luggage), and it's fantastic. Underneath I found very little surface rust here and there, and the tip of the exhaust pipe doesn't look too good, but no actual rot anywhere. I tried a few bolts here and there and none of them were stuck, all gave way progressively as though they were merely 'snug,' not stuck.
The bad:
-Radio turns on, but nothing comes out of the speakers.
-air comes through the vents at speed even when the fan is turned off, also the air doesn't smell very good. almost like something got in the vents.
-shift feel isn't great, the shifter feels loose, but i don't know how it felt originally and i never had trouble finding a gear. Keep in mind i'm comparing to a 2009 RX8, my only basis for comparison here. That might be like comparing a middle school track star with Usain Bolt.
-clutch feels like there is air in the line, but it doens't seem to be down on fluid in the reservoir.
-paint on the front bumper is flaking off, but the bumper is undamaged.
-hood release is screwed up. The guy who helped get it out of storage may have jammed the cable, but it was pulled out of the dash, so it was probably jammed earlier, too. I checked the hood latch itself and it's fine. need a new cable and fixing where it mounts. it's an unseen part that broke, but it's also likely irreplaceable.
-The owner mentioned a couple other things that he fixed when he got it, but that haven't resurfaced since. i wrote them down somewhere.
The good:
-look at it. no holes, no mods, everything is there, he even had a FSM (pdf is available free online if you look)
-unmodified, sorta. the PO replaced the brake pads with hawks, the street ones. He also replaced the original lines with braided stainless, as he said the old ones didn't look too great and he didn't want them blowing at any point. The brake pedal feel is fantastic.
-Engine starts like a 40k mile engine should, it doens't smoke, no cranking forever, just turn the key and on. it doens't miss, doens't stumble, no problems.
-The interior is great. the seats look perfect. He had a dash cover, floor mats, everything. it all looks great. the seat adjustments work, too (and they're brilliant)
-it's quiet. I expected it to be a little louder, rattlier (is that a word?), and harsher just because it's an economy car from the 80's. i thought the age would make it worse, but nope. Wind noise is minor, the interior doesn't have rattles, the engine sound is quiet and well muffled.
-new tires. Cheapies according to the PO, but new nonetheless. He said the old ones were cracking, probably quite old.
-The A/C works.
The Maybe:
-Power. i don't know if this is good or bad, so i put it here. It feels quite down on power, but i don't know if that's because it needs a tune up after all the sitting around, or if something is wrong. It's most likely just because the power builds progressively (though quickly) with the turbo, and even at full rated one thirty-whatever horsepower, this is by far the least powerful car i have driven since i was a teenager. It runs too great for anything to be seriously wrong, and it maintains highway speed effortlessly. it can also climb and accelerate up an upstate NY hill in top gear, so it's probably just me being used to non-turbo, higher power, 20 year newer cars. Either way, i'm leaving this one stock.
My plan is to do some fixing up like the PO was doing. The paint could use a polishing but is otherwise great. I want to fix the hood thing first, since it's annoying. I'll probably use it as an occasional summer car when the weather is nice. The PO was also going to car shows, something I haven't done in years.
I could tell the PO was going through an emotional crisis selling his cars. I couldn't find this thing advertised anywhere other than the GTX mailing list. I think he knew he had to sell it, but didn't want to so he never tried. We talked for quite a while just about cars and i'm quite upset i didn't get to know him before he left, i think we are basically the same exact kind of car guy. He said if he's ever back in the states and i'm going to sell it i should look him up first because he'll want it back. Sorry to say i don't want to sell it unless i absolutely have to, just like him 
TL, DR got 323 GTX, a nice one.
