Junkyard Gem: 1989 Mazda MX-6 GT Turbo

The
Mazda MX-6 is best-known in the United States as the sibling (or maybe first cousin) of the Ford Probe, which almost became the successor to the
Fox Mustang. The MX-6 and Probe were well-engineered and very quick for the era, but never enjoyed great American-market sales success. Here’s a rare first-generation MX-6 GT that I photographed last week in a Denver self-service yard.

145 turbocharged horsepower was pretty good for 1989, when a new Honda Prelude Si had 135 horses and the far more expensive BMW 325i ($24,650 for the 325i coupe versus $14,499 for the MX-6 GT Turbo) had 168.

This one doesn’t have the optional four-wheel steering, but it
does have the three-way adjustable suspension.

If you drove a turbocharged car in 1989, you
needed a nine-band equalizer with analog sliders on the radio. It was the law.

It’s not rusty, but at 205,575 miles it’s worn out.

The Japanese-market version was known as the Capella C2, and it boasted some great TV commercials.

“A better value in high-performance luxury sports coupes comes from our intense commitment to your total satisfaction.” As always, the US-market TV ads are less interesting than their Japanese counterparts.

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