Pulled the trigger. 1988 Mazda 626 GT

I've been a member of the F2T-Mazda-GD-Body-626-MX6 cult for about eighteen years, but have been without a running example for the last five or so. I've been jonesing for another one for some time, combing through Craigslist like a spaz, and meeting stupidly modded, rusty, and otherwise ruined cars at every turn. So I decided I had to quit berkeleying around and buy one from a great distance away.

I bought this:

I am nervous and apprehensive, but the money is spent and the truck has been booked. Nothing to do but wait.

Hey! That's on Portland CL. It caught my eye earlier, as I was unaware of the existence of 4 door GT cars. I thought all the GTs were Coupes for whatever reason.

I hope it is as clean as it looks in the pictures.

Dem' interiors!

Wow, that looks showroom fresh.

Looks just like the one my wife drove for 200,000 plus miles. Absolutely loved that car.

Looks great! Welcome back to the cult.

Wow, that looks showroom fresh.

You never would have considered it before the Shelby, but i may know where a nice turbo/5spd HATCHBACK 626gt is sitting about 2 miles from your house..

That thing is gorgeous! What are your plans?

Drove an '80 for several years. A little underpowered, but a nice ride for my wife.

Well, i think the later turbo versions are a little less underpowered.

Vigo wrote:

Wow, that looks showroom fresh.

You never would have considered it before the Shelby, but i may know where a nice turbo/5spd HATCHBACK 626gt is sitting about 2 miles from your house..

If your buddy above isn't interested, could you pass along the info to me? A friend of mine is looking hard for a nice hatchback.

It looks lowered, am I right? Man that thing looks sweet just as it is...

Oh man, that thing is MINTY. Welcome back to the GD club! ONE OF US. ONE OF US.

So crispy! Love those wheels, they fit it perfectly! Aren't they on the wrong sides though?

If you want a fun, reasonably affordable, reasonably sized sedan with a 5-speed, that's what you have to do to get one these days! Great score, enjoy.

sethmeister4 wrote: It looks lowered, am I right? Man that thing looks sweet just as it is...

Yeah it's lowered.

The car looks incredible, super excited to see what James does to it. (BTW, keep me posted on how to fix the rear bumper sag )

In reply to beans:

Are those RX-7 wheels?

sethmeister4 wrote: In reply to beans: Are those RX-7 wheels?

I thought so, too, but that style was only in 4-lug on the RX7's if I recall correctly.

sethmeister4 wrote: It looks lowered, am I right? Man that thing looks sweet just as it is...

Yeah I am a sucker for OEM wheels, the gxl FC wheels are a nice touch, especially the condition of them.

Looks like rx7 salad shooters.

Vigo wrote:

Wow, that looks showroom fresh.

You never would have considered it before the Shelby, but i may know where a nice turbo/5spd HATCHBACK 626gt is sitting about 2 miles from your house..

That's not that far from my house, is it for sale? Or do you just know about a 626 gt hatch? 5spd?

Swank Force One wrote:

sethmeister4 wrote: It looks lowered, am I right? Man that thing looks sweet just as it is...

Yeah it's lowered. The car looks incredible, super excited to see what James does to it. (BTW, keep me posted on how to fix the rear bumper sag )

It's on Eibachs and Tokicos.

To start out, my Austrian ZKW fog light grille will be finding a home. But the RX-7 wheels have kinda confounded my plans. I have NOS sets of 88-89 and 90-92 style MX6 wheels in the Mazda boxes, which I was saving for "the one" that I would one day buy. But I think I like the RX-7 wheels better than the MX-6 ones, so I'll probably be using one of the MX-6 wheel sets on my '86 626 with KL-series V6 that I'm building.

beans wrote:

sethmeister4 wrote: In reply to beans: Are those RX-7 wheels?

I thought so, too, but that style was only in 4-lug on the RX7's if I recall correctly.

I think those are the 4ws wheels. But 4ws only came on the mx6 and hatch 626s I think.

They are RX-7 wheels. The 4WS ones look like this but have smooth center caps that say "4WS" on them. But you could get the same wheel on non-4WS Turbo 626s in which case the center cap just said "Mazda." 4WS could be had on all body styles.

I'm digging that interior.

Cotton wrote: I'm digging that interior.

Too much blue, and needs MX6 seats instead of 626 units.

But yes... it's a GREAT interior. They hold up incredibly well, and they're unbelievably comfortable.