Whether you know it as the 323 or the Great Little Car (yes, seriously, that’s what the GLC stands for), this ‘70s Mazda now sports a 13B rotary engine.
The listing doesn’t offer much more than that, though it does mention that the engine was “refreshed” about 2000 …
Apparently in some markets–Indonesia, I think–this was also called the "Baby Boomer."
We owned one of those for a while in the 1980's and, quite honestly, I don't think I have ever been in a more underpowered car than a GLC. Ours was very handsome looking--silver and grey with red accents and steel wheels with "beauty rings", but this didn't make for a serious lack of power. A rotary swap can only help things. Shoot, a lawn mower engine would have improved performance over the stock engine. Did I mention the GLC was underpowered?
We used to have a GLC on staff. We called it the Glick.
This reminds me of the wierd engine swaps I saw in Cuba. Some of them were real head-scratchers!
I can recall a customer bringing in a newly purchased Goofy Little Car to the independent foreign car shop I was working in, 'round about 1985, complaining about no power. I got the car, drove it and came back thinking it surely had SOMETHING wrong with it, but I was assured that was as good as it got. I was kind of shocked at how gutless it was. I think an old Subaru would have dusted it.
Speaking of the GLC, and I realize this is the later front-drive version, but something from the Classic Motorsports back catalog: A 1983 Mazda GLC Race Car From the Glory Days of IMSA.
In reply to offroadwine :
that's when you'd install a Weber DG carb and headers. Fuel economy would take a hit though.
Rod Millen built one of these as a rally car for a guy named Willy Rutherford in England back in the late 70s, before Rod came to America. IIRC, it had Ford Econobox suspension and was very quick. Read about it in a British magazine called Cars and Car Conversions, which was a great mag, the British equivalent to GRM.
So, how to make your Mazda GLC quicker/faster/better?
Welcome to the Automod catalog. I worked here after graduating college, and my first task: memorize the catalog.
I realize I’m covering both front- and rear-wheel-drive GLC variants, but I found some listings inside its pages.
Headers for your Mazda GLC? We had them.
Pace Setter mufflers for Mazda GLC, too:
Just noticed that Jensen-Healey is spelled incorrectly. Doh.
We didn’t reprint the entire Weber catalog, but if it was available, we could get it. And learning all those Weber part numbes was murder. If Red Line offered a kit for the Mazda GLC, we could get it. As I recall, we didn’t stock a ton of conversion kits due to the sheer volume of options. I think we kept MGB and maybe Porsche 914 on the shelf. Maybe a down-draft kit for a 240Z or 510, too.
Rear louvers for your Mazda GLC? We had that, too.
And the final touch for your Mazda GLC? Kamei front spoilers. We had a rack of them as tall as me.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
I would love to find one of those front spoilers!
hobiercr said:In reply to David S. Wallens :
I would love to find one of those front spoilers!
Somewhere there has to be on NOS spoiler left, right?
When Automod closed, I wonder where the remaining inventory went?
Here's another rally one with a 13B driven by Hendrik Blok in SCCA ProRally in 1980
My first brand new car was a 1982 Mazda GLC. I did some autocrossing and track days with that little car, all 67 HP of it !! 0-60 took 12.5 seconds, which seems atrocious today, but a Trans-Am took 9.1.......everything was slow by current standards.
Some picts of my '80 GLC before I flipped it at Sebring.
In reply to hobiercr :
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
In reply to hobiercr :
That's a different tow vehicle.
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
Looks stable?
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