Anyone else laugh at the Phoenix's braking being described as "generally straight" as its shown on screen nearly completely sideways after a panic stop test?😂😂 I love watching these things as a reminder of how far car engineering has come. These days even the slightest nose dive or tail wag on emergency stop tests are considered concerning..not to mention the door handle dragging body lean most all cars had back then...wow.
I had a 2001 Nissan Altima SE (Stanza) with the 2.4L, 155 HP, 4 speed Automatic and with the A/C blowing it would bog down in traffic. Get the 5-speed manual, no problem. At the time I tried to find one but they were all sold out so I bought the automatic.
3:00 That Stanza door chime brought back a flood of memories. My mom had a 1983 Sentra that she bought brand new and had for 15 years. That door chime is the sound of my childhood. 😂
@@rightlanehog3151 Those Novas took their time to sail off into space. They're one of the last ultra retro V8 muscle cars that are still affordable. If you have about 5K you might get a 4-door survivor.
That generation of 626 was my mothers first car, I wasn’t around to see it but fortunately she got the next generation and kept it well until I was old enough to appreciate it. Today I’m a huge Mazda enthusiast because of it (and my dads 83 RX-7 helped too)
@@thecustardguys You have been allowed to use the permanent marker again? Don't write on real cars. Mazda, who are only vehicles, not cars, don't matter.
The unique selling point of this channel is longevity! Many of the biggest auto youtubers today were either unborn or just out of their diapers when Motorweek started several decades ago! For this reason, I think Motorweek should leverage more on that heritage with a change of youtube name - "Motorweek since 1981"
I was 7 years old when all of these cars roamed America's roads and freeways, i remember seeing them all. Its hard to believe it was 40 years ago, the Family Car has gone through alot of changes since then.
Rare to even see a Phoenix mentioned. This was great to revisit these cares that were everywhere when I was growing up. The occasional Camry or 626 are the only ones you see on occasion anymore around here.
@@modelmanjohn Yeah my grandma had the Chevy Citation version when I was a kid, I think an 82. It seemed ok. Hers was black which I've never seen another one painted that color.
The X-Cars really weren't bad at all once GM got the bugs worked out. But you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. GM used basically the same platform and engineering for their A-body cars (Olds Ciera, Buick Century, Chevy Celebrity, Pontiac 6000) that sold extremely well for many years and are generally considered to be very reliable -- you still see many of them on the road today.
@@Stressless2023 Either you got lucky or my dad got a lemon :D our 1983 Citation had lots of problems within the first 2 years. Clutch, front axle, suspension and some other issues, but it was paid for so it became my first hand me down car. Fortunately it was totaled in a 1989 crash and I bought a used Cavalier. Ahh, memories...
@@civlyzed I've heard of them being hit or miss. My grandma's 83 was fine, never left her or us stranded, but she only kept it about 4 years. She also traded it in for a new Cavalier lol.
Still with pogo-stick lousy suspension. Watching crash compilations, it's often a Camry that goes out of control & runs off the road, after an emergency maneuver on a straight, dry road.
We had an '83 Stanza, my mom's first new car in 10 years. I was 15 1/2 when we got it; it was one of the cars I learned to drive in. That "ding ding" alert took me back.
My parents had a 84 Stanza HB that looked identical. It last until 1999 and ended up being my first car. Lots of memories riding in the backseat and a year of rowing my own gears in the driver’s seat.
Instead of an insipid beep or droning buzzer, the 626 plays an actual melody when you leave the door open and the keys in the ignition. I hadn’t noticed this when I saw this original broadcast back in ‘83.
I liked any cars that used bell chimes, with solenoids that struck a set of actual bells. I recall several makes using various bell chimes, but Subaru sticks out in my mind because I once owned one that had them.
Ah, the days of five passenger cars with only 83 hp. 😄 I remember them well. Hearing and seeing this program takes me back and makes me "homesick" for those days. Our local PBS station showed these episodes on Saturday or Sunday mornings, and I rarely missed one. If I had to pick from these four, even before the test it would have been the 626. However, I would not have even considered paying full size car money for a compact hatchback in 1981. In fact, '81 was when I bought my second ever brand new car, and I considered none of these models. I bought a really sharp, nicely equipped '81 Caprice with a gas V8, power everything, tilt, cruise, and a sunroof. It stickered for $10k, over $1k less than the 626. That car is still one of my favorites from the 40-ish vehicles I've owned in my life. Even though in those days I was still predisposed to favor GM vehicles (that changed during GM's disastrous '80s), I would not have even considered one of the GM "X" cars such as the Phoenix in this test. Although it was only their second model year, they were already getting a lot of bad press even by the time I bought my Caprice in early '81, and it got worse. Much, much worse. I brought my Caprice back to the dealer for its first service, and while I was waiting for it I noticed there was a new Citation sitting by the showroom door. I asked my salesman about the X car problems being reported in the news and it was obvious he didn't think much of them. He told me to take a drive in the one by the door while I was waiting, which I did. Yikes. Not good. It felt rough, unfinished, and not well sorted out, which it wasn't. The rear brakes felt grabby and prone to locking, which turned out to be one of the several problems they were having. I was very glad to get back in the Caprice and drive it home. What a difference.
The coupe version of this era 626 is such a classy car. There's one that I've seen around my town a couple of times, and I just can't look away when I see it.
I bet my Grandfather saw this and went out and bought a 626. That car was totalled in an accident, and my grandpa and grandma pulled themselves out of the wreckage and went straight back to the Mazda dealership. The replacement car was passed around our family for decades.
A few years ago I bought a 2017 Ford Focus ST, brand new. From the moment I pulled into work, people kept asking me why I didn't get something "nicer" which was a polite way of asking why I didn't get a pickup or a big sedan. I simply said it was big enough for me, and it has what I want. So it's funny looking back and seeing how 30+ years ago, cars that would make my FoST look big were still considered "family size" with 80hp and 3-speed autos.... I miss the lightweight and simple lines of the old cars but I do appreciate how far we've come, even if most people don't.
@@burntcrumpets5616 I was a 16-year-old and entirely jazzed to have anything mobile. Was it a great car? Nope, but it took me places and that made it magical.
@@newcarpathia9422 Train then? Forgive me but am I taking public transport for granted with me being European? In all seriousness, I was just messing with your nut before. I'm sure the early Camry's were a decent piece of kit back in the day being a well trusted model over on the States. Can't go wrong with most Japanese auto brands though the Camry wasn't an option here in Europe. Instead we had the other saloon/sedan model called the Avensis. Rather nonchalant but the cabbie's loved em! Again I apologize for my overly dry euro humour regarding your first automobile. I confess, I'm sure your Camry was a whole lot better than my first car which was a total embarrassment! May I ask what year did you take possession of your Camry? Just curious. Kind regards 😉
My first new car purchase was a 1984 Mazda 626 two door coup with all the bells and whistles including digital instrumentation. It was a really great car other than it could have used a bit more power under the hood. For 1984, the styling looked pretty advanced.
One thing that holds true from this comparison is that Mazda will always emphasize driving performance. I've owned two Mazda 6's and have never been disappointed by either of them. I'd be first in line if the rumored return of the 6 comes to be!
I had a charcoal grey 85 626 5 speed during/after high school. Had a burgundy interior and I drove it everywhere until I gave it to a younger brother at well over 400,000 miles.
I initially was very surprised to see the Phoenix rate so well, but take away the quality and recall issues that plagued the first few years so badly and the X-cars were at their core a very capable design. Alas, the damage was done and the X-cars never recovered even when GM ironed out the issues.
That is true. Another reason the x-cars sales dropped off was of the A-body cars. Same wheelbase but in a larger body. I owned an 85 citation. No quality problems with mine.
I am old enough to remember this review, we have come a long long way. Incidentally, among other things, what they considered to be quiet we would today consider it extremely loud
If I had the money, I'd love to get this group of cars together again after 40 years of abuse and see how they compare to their new selves. Would be hilarious and fun!
I noticed the title card shifting around a little bit, and that made me realize that it was probably generated by the old trick of aiming a camera at the logo drawn on a piece of paper, inverting the video signal to make it white on black, and then luma-keying it on top of the video. No computer graphics involved!
I haven't ever seen these cars other than the Camray. Still see a few Camry on the road. It's a good car. Rust is the issue that killed the Camry my family had.
According to Merriam Webster, while an outdated term, it's not considered offensive when used to describe art, medicine, or objects...just when describing people
I can speak for John Davis at the time (no I can't, lol), but when he said it, it was meant to be witty and tongue-in-cheek. Also, since the Orientals in this review were great cars (for the time), it would be viewed (by anyone not woke-brainwashed) as a compliment to any and everything Oriental (whether it be people or country).
In 1983 I bought my first new car. It was a Plymouth Colt GTS Hatchback (Mitsubishi, 1.6L 4 cyl., Super Shift which Plymouth called Twin Stick. It was a 4 speed manual with a second lever for a high-low differential). It would burn rubber in 1st, 2nd and, sometimes, 3rd in low range and get 47 MPG in high range at highway speeds. I don't remember the price but it was about $7000-$7500.
Man I loved my Datsun B210, wish I could find another one today. I was able to find a one owner clean Toyota Cressida though. The 4 door Supra is what it was nicknamed because it had the same powerplant. Keep up the best auto show ever created MotorWeek! Love you guys
@16:42 got enthusiastic at first hearing 5.7 second run for the Cam-ray then realized it was just for 40-55mph. Incredible how the current Cam-ray V6 could go from a dead start while this Cam-ray started at 40mph and yet the current V6 Cam-ray would still beat it to 60.
Yes, I had an 87 626 GT Turbo… it was wickedly quick for the time. Along with fuel injection the 86-87s also had a completely new interior/dash design, updated taillights and flush wide headlights.
One of my neighbors had the Nissan Stanza and he had it for years. I never heard him complain. The 626 got the styling here. I love the jaw breaker 😅test.
I owned an '86 626 GT 5-door for a while. Although mine was a beater with a bunch of problems when I bought it, I definitely did not hate that car. It looked great and it was fun to drive (whenever it was running close enough to right).
I find it a test of time when one car model in this episode is still seen currently running in the year the episode came out & still produced today. The Toyota Camry looks to me to have proven longevity.
Here we go with that Cam-ray: the saga with the pronunciation til the 92 model. Edit: Mazda chime is familiar (is it a Australian built?) My first car is 1985 Toyota Camry sedan(automatic) it's pretty nice car but wow that brake test is long. OK I think he got it mixed up with the transmission on the mileage part
@@JoshBrinson I remember the USDM Hyundai one and that chime doesn't match the Mazda one. The Mazda just "sings" not the Hyundai one just "beeps". The only other car that does "sing" is Volkswagen Edit: I forgot the Mitsubishi Starion.
@@hothatchpa lol. Of course that pronunciation make me cringe. So he didn't correct it in 83 model the 84 model the 87 model the 88 model and corrected it in 92 model. Took him almost a decade to correct it.
"The suspension kept out two biggest bags from _lying_ side by side". Wow - I had never heard an American use this word correctly. Well done, MotorWeek man.
'What I still think of as a "Family Sized" car: If we'd stick to Honda Civics* for diriving our kids around we would be able to afford send them to college (or your favorite trade school)-$30k today is less than $11k in 1983.
The problem is Americans see small cars as a temporary embarrassment while they work towards barely being able to afford a big SUV or luxury car instead of saving for their future.
That Mazda 626 is a pretty darn cool car. Crazy good breaks for not having ABS. The Pheonix's styling looks so much better than its Chevy counterpart, the Citation.
They didn’t test the AMC concord wagon, which was really a hatchback. But since it was basically a warmed over 1971 amc hornet, maybe it’s just as well.
The Mazda 626 was also sold by Ford as the Telstar. I don't live in the USA but our neighbors had a Telstar. I think it looked really nice when I was a young kid back then. I still do today.
This is a nice comparison, with some cars we don't see anymore. Especially the Phoenix. But I noticed something about the Stanza: at the start, John said "along with the 3-speed automatic gearbox we didn't request", meaning it had an automatic transmission. The 33 mpg figure came with the automatic model but later, when the mileage points were given, John said that the car had a 5-speed manual. I guess it was an editing mistake.
I've been thinking lately about John's continued mispronunciation of "Camry" as "Cam-Ray" back then, & am now wondering if Toyota told him to pronounce it like that just as Mitsubishi told the press to pronounce "Galant" "Ga-Lawn" for the first generation models.
I wish Mazda still made a 5 door hatchback. I had a 2006 Mazda6 hatch and it was more practical and efficient than small SUVs, and handled much better.
The interior of all the imports were lightyears ahead the Phoenix. Those gages looked faded and used like Junk Yard replacements. 😂 (and im a GM guy). My favorite was the 626.
Today you couldn't do a comparison like this, because there are no family size hatchbacks. Everything is SUVs and "crossovers '.My 88 Dodge Lancer was the most useful car I've ever owned. I could throw my bicycle in the back without taking the front wheel of and once picked up a 50 gallon water heater with it, and it didn't handle like a truck.
By 1983 the bugs that GM's X-body cars seemed to be worked out, I remember by the early 2000's the later versions of the X-body cars were still somewhat commonly seen on the road while the earlier models were nearing extinct.
88 hp! My first car was an 82 Mustang with an inline six rated at 91 hp. I currently own a 2018 Mustang eco boost that puts out 310hp and 350ftlbs of torque.
626 was a hansome car and the Pontiac Phoenix was the best value. The 1983 Phoenix is a clone of the improved Citation II that addressed the reputation ruining record setting recalls of the original Citation.
That Nissan "Datsun" Stanza took me back to reality in 1983. ALL Nissan cars were known as "Datsuns" until 1984, the transitional year when every model wore both Datsun & Nissan badges on the rear. From 1985-present, they were known only as Nissan. The all new 1984 Datsun 300ZX 50th Anniversary Turbos sold for $29,995 plus tax, insurance & dealer fees. The same price as a new Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. I know because my 300ZX is still in my garage with all the paperwork & 7,500 original miles. They were available on Dealer's lots starting July 11, 1983 & Dealers NEVER offered discounts!
My heart just sank to my stomach realizing these cars are 40yrs old. FORTY years old! Man, I feel old. I was only a kid in the 80s, but I remember when these were on the road. Of the group, my choice is the Mazda 626. I really like the design and it seems the plushest inside, only bested in that regard by the Pontiac Phoenix. Camry would be at the bottom for me due to having the ugliest exterior design and poor driving dynamics.
Ahh, I remember those days watching Motorweek on PBS. This was my college freshman year, and it was the closest to "cable" a broke young man had!
👍
Still on PBS!
Same
"Cam-ray" ;) Seriously a great blast from the past. Would be nice if 2023 offered options like these.
Anyone else laugh at the Phoenix's braking being described as "generally straight" as its shown on screen nearly completely sideways after a panic stop test?😂😂 I love watching these things as a reminder of how far car engineering has come. These days even the slightest nose dive or tail wag on emergency stop tests are considered concerning..not to mention the door handle dragging body lean most all cars had back then...wow.
now cars are fucking garbage that are always broken and its 200 times more maintenance costly than back then
I couldnt imagine having a 88 hp nissan datsun stanza fully loaded with 5 adults ac on going up hill or trying to pass a car lol
I had a 2001 Nissan Altima SE (Stanza) with the 2.4L, 155 HP, 4 speed Automatic and with the A/C blowing it would bog down in traffic. Get the 5-speed manual, no problem. At the time I tried to find one but they were all sold out so I bought the automatic.
Imagine on a Colorado high mountain pass with a full load.
I did as a kid. My Mom bought one for us and we drove in Apalachicola for years in it! It was so big
That Stanza (OG Altima) is gutless af
@@oldtwinsna8347imagine being on the Moon with no gas stations! Lol
3:00 That Stanza door chime brought back a flood of memories. My mom had a 1983 Sentra that she bought brand new and had for 15 years. That door chime is the sound of my childhood. 😂
Right? I had an 82 Datsun 310GX and that immediately took me back to shifting through the gears learning how to drive a stick
My grandma's (Datsun Nissan) Maxima had that as well. I thought only the Maxima had it!
@@GeeEm1313
The First Generation Mazima has the talking voice.
Love the tinkle sound warning chime..
So polite
The chime on the 1989 Accord was Very similar!!
That is one Phoenix that will certainly not be rising from the ashes. 😂
Lol!!! I don't even remember that car!
@@andydhillon1977 Please accept my apologies for the nightmare.
My hometown, there's a neighborhood where a '77 Phoenix still rolls around.
@@PhilMante Yes, that would be the earlier RWD Phoenix built on the Nova platform.
@@rightlanehog3151 Those Novas took their time to sail off into space. They're one of the last ultra retro V8 muscle cars that are still affordable. If you have about 5K you might get a 4-door survivor.
That generation of 626 was my mothers first car, I wasn’t around to see it but fortunately she got the next generation and kept it well until I was old enough to appreciate it. Today I’m a huge Mazda enthusiast because of it (and my dads 83 RX-7 helped too)
My parents had this gen as a coupe. They kept it till 2000 I think. So many childhood memories. 😊
My dad's Mazda 6 has 300,000 miles on it
@@thecustardguys You have been allowed to use the permanent marker again? Don't write on real cars. Mazda, who are only vehicles, not cars, don't matter.
@@Demun1649 you okay bruh?
@@Demun1649
Okay ..... Deep Breath... now, u wanna try that again?
The “ting-ting” of the door ajar alarm on the Nissan…that takes me back!
The unique selling point of this channel is longevity!
Many of the biggest auto youtubers today were either unborn or just out of their diapers when Motorweek started several decades ago!
For this reason, I think Motorweek should leverage more on that heritage with a change of youtube name -
"Motorweek since 1981"
Dude was looking real zesty chewing that gumball
Looked like he would have gladly ate it out of the guys hand 😭
Rather homoerotic though.🤔
ooh 🤤
😂😂
1:53 1:54 1:55 1:56 2:26 2:26
Those Orientals sure do make good cars.
Rugs and food as well.
😂😂😂😂
Ahhh the 80s 😊
I was 7 years old when all of these cars roamed America's roads and freeways, i remember seeing them all. Its hard to believe it was 40 years ago, the Family Car has gone through alot of changes since then.
These were "econoboxes," exactly what people needed then. I would buy a K-car today if they had them.
@@iamgermane My Mom had a Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country K car station wagon.
Rare to even see a Phoenix mentioned. This was great to revisit these cares that were everywhere when I was growing up. The occasional Camry or 626 are the only ones you see on occasion anymore around here.
We had the Citation version as a kid. I didn't think it was so bad.
@@modelmanjohn Yeah my grandma had the Chevy Citation version when I was a kid, I think an 82. It seemed ok. Hers was black which I've never seen another one painted that color.
The X-Cars really weren't bad at all once GM got the bugs worked out. But you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. GM used basically the same platform and engineering for their A-body cars (Olds Ciera, Buick Century, Chevy Celebrity, Pontiac 6000) that sold extremely well for many years and are generally considered to be very reliable -- you still see many of them on the road today.
@@Stressless2023 Either you got lucky or my dad got a lemon :D our 1983 Citation had lots of problems within the first 2 years. Clutch, front axle, suspension and some other issues, but it was paid for so it became my first hand me down car. Fortunately it was totaled in a 1989 crash and I bought a used Cavalier. Ahh, memories...
@@civlyzed I've heard of them being hit or miss. My grandma's 83 was fine, never left her or us stranded, but she only kept it about 4 years. She also traded it in for a new Cavalier lol.
Ah, the MotorWeek Players are fantastic once again! The jawbreaker test was completely unexpected!
We should try that with our cars haha
I love the stereo with the equalizer in the Mazda, looks so high tech for the time.
The joystick in front of the shifter controlled the fader and panning of the speakers.
Would never have guessed back in 83 that the Camry would become the world class car that it has!
Still with pogo-stick lousy suspension. Watching crash compilations, it's often a Camry that goes out of control & runs off the road, after an emergency maneuver on a straight, dry road.
You mean Cam-Ray!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@tyronepowell147 yes that's definitely how John Davis says it! 🤣
If by world class, you mean extremely boring, correct.
We had an '83 Stanza, my mom's first new car in 10 years. I was 15 1/2 when we got it; it was one of the cars I learned to drive in. That "ding ding" alert took me back.
My grandparents had an '82 with the same uh, bordello red interior as MW's tester. The chime takes me back, too. ;)
I bought a new Nissan Hard Body truck in 1992, and it, too, had that same chime! 😊
My parents had a 84 Stanza HB that looked identical. It last until 1999 and ended up being my first car. Lots of memories riding in the backseat and a year of rowing my own gears in the driver’s seat.
Love these old comparisons, hope there are still more hiding in the archives
A lot more, I fancy.
Oye. 3 Orientals. Doesn't sound PC 2023. Grew up watching this show. Loved it.
Instead of an insipid beep or droning buzzer, the 626 plays an actual melody when you leave the door open and the keys in the ignition. I hadn’t noticed this when I saw this original broadcast back in ‘83.
I liked any cars that used bell chimes, with solenoids that struck a set of actual bells. I recall several makes using various bell chimes, but Subaru sticks out in my mind because I once owned one that had them.
That music is pure 80s gold. As is that ding ding sound coming from the Stanza.
Ah, the days of five passenger cars with only 83 hp. 😄 I remember them well. Hearing and seeing this program takes me back and makes me "homesick" for those days. Our local PBS station showed these episodes on Saturday or Sunday mornings, and I rarely missed one.
If I had to pick from these four, even before the test it would have been the 626. However, I would not have even considered paying full size car money for a compact hatchback in 1981. In fact, '81 was when I bought my second ever brand new car, and I considered none of these models. I bought a really sharp, nicely equipped '81 Caprice with a gas V8, power everything, tilt, cruise, and a sunroof. It stickered for $10k, over $1k less than the 626. That car is still one of my favorites from the 40-ish vehicles I've owned in my life.
Even though in those days I was still predisposed to favor GM vehicles (that changed during GM's disastrous '80s), I would not have even considered one of the GM "X" cars such as the Phoenix in this test. Although it was only their second model year, they were already getting a lot of bad press even by the time I bought my Caprice in early '81, and it got worse. Much, much worse.
I brought my Caprice back to the dealer for its first service, and while I was waiting for it I noticed there was a new Citation sitting by the showroom door. I asked my salesman about the X car problems being reported in the news and it was obvious he didn't think much of them. He told me to take a drive in the one by the door while I was waiting, which I did. Yikes. Not good. It felt rough, unfinished, and not well sorted out, which it wasn't. The rear brakes felt grabby and prone to locking, which turned out to be one of the several problems they were having.
I was very glad to get back in the Caprice and drive it home. What a difference.
The coupe version of this era 626 is such a classy car. There's one that I've seen around my town a couple of times, and I just can't look away when I see it.
I bet my Grandfather saw this and went out and bought a 626. That car was totalled in an accident, and my grandpa and grandma pulled themselves out of the wreckage and went straight back to the Mazda dealership. The replacement car was passed around our family for decades.
A few years ago I bought a 2017 Ford Focus ST, brand new. From the moment I pulled into work, people kept asking me why I didn't get something "nicer" which was a polite way of asking why I didn't get a pickup or a big sedan. I simply said it was big enough for me, and it has what I want. So it's funny looking back and seeing how 30+ years ago, cars that would make my FoST look big were still considered "family size" with 80hp and 3-speed autos.... I miss the lightweight and simple lines of the old cars but I do appreciate how far we've come, even if most people don't.
Brought a tear to my eye. That precise model of Camry was my first car. Mine was even the same color.
Oh dear lord!.......I'm so sorry.
@@burntcrumpets5616 I was a 16-year-old and entirely jazzed to have anything mobile. Was it a great car? Nope, but it took me places and that made it magical.
@@newcarpathia9422 but darling......there's also the bus. Travel in style I say!
@@burntcrumpets5616 The bus? Where I lived? Har! There was no bus. :)
@@newcarpathia9422 Train then? Forgive me but am I taking public transport for granted with me being European? In all seriousness, I was just messing with your nut before. I'm sure the early Camry's were a decent piece of kit back in the day being a well trusted model over on the States. Can't go wrong with most Japanese auto brands though the Camry wasn't an option here in Europe. Instead we had the other saloon/sedan model called the Avensis. Rather nonchalant but the cabbie's loved em! Again I apologize for my overly dry euro humour regarding your first automobile. I confess, I'm sure your Camry was a whole lot better than my first car which was a total embarrassment! May I ask what year did you take possession of your Camry? Just curious. Kind regards 😉
My first new car purchase was a 1984 Mazda 626 two door coup with all the bells and whistles including digital instrumentation. It was a really great car other than it could have used a bit more power under the hood. For 1984, the styling looked pretty advanced.
3:05 that chime takes me back to my childhood. My mom used to have a 1986 Subaru which sounded about the same.
One thing that holds true from this comparison is that Mazda will always emphasize driving performance. I've owned two Mazda 6's and have never been disappointed by either of them. I'd be first in line if the rumored return of the 6 comes to be!
For sure. My Dad had a Mazda 3 and it was a blast to drive. My brother still has its, 18 years later and its still going strong.
@@Andyface79 I drive a 2005 mazda 3 hatch to this day.
I had a charcoal grey 85 626 5 speed during/after high school. Had a burgundy interior and I drove it everywhere until I gave it to a younger brother at well over 400,000 miles.
Ahh.. The first Camry.
I Had one back in 1990-1991.
Great memories.
Greetings From Finland!
I initially was very surprised to see the Phoenix rate so well, but take away the quality and recall issues that plagued the first few years so badly and the X-cars were at their core a very capable design. Alas, the damage was done and the X-cars never recovered even when GM ironed out the issues.
That is true. Another reason the x-cars sales dropped off was of the A-body cars. Same wheelbase but in a larger body. I owned an 85 citation. No quality problems with mine.
Love the full episodes!!
I am old enough to remember this review, we have come a long long way. Incidentally, among other things, what they considered to be quiet we would today consider it extremely loud
Well do u remember it
Those boat American cars were pretty quiet.
Not enough companies do the "Jawbreaker Test" for panel fit anymore... we need more of these tests in 2023.
Excellent show 👏 my dad, who dealt in cars 🚗 for 28 years, would enjoy 😊
If I had the money, I'd love to get this group of cars together again after 40 years of abuse and see how they compare to their new selves. Would be hilarious and fun!
I noticed the title card shifting around a little bit, and that made me realize that it was probably generated by the old trick of aiming a camera at the logo drawn on a piece of paper, inverting the video signal to make it white on black, and then luma-keying it on top of the video. No computer graphics involved!
Titles and credits swerved quite a bit even until the mid 80s!!!!!
It looks like it was part of a filmed sequence, with the amount of noise and what could be gate weave
I haven't ever seen these cars other than the Camray. Still see a few Camry on the road. It's a good car. Rust is the issue that killed the Camry my family had.
Love these multi car comparisons
"Our contestants include three orientals..."
Woweee, this uh....this was a different time wasn't it
Today they're all "Asians", Im sure future generations will be offended by that
According to Merriam Webster, while an outdated term, it's not considered offensive when used to describe art, medicine, or objects...just when describing people
I'm Asian and and I find that funny. 😂😂😂
Yes a different time. A better time.
I can speak for John Davis at the time (no I can't, lol), but when he said it, it was meant to be witty and tongue-in-cheek. Also, since the Orientals in this review were great cars (for the time), it would be viewed (by anyone not woke-brainwashed) as a compliment to any and everything Oriental (whether it be people or country).
That generation Mazda 626 was a great generation. Good looking, reliable, and fun to drive.
Yeah. My father had several of them, last one was an 87 GT Hatchback. Great car would love to find one these days
@@Flying_GC they were around 83-88? Why Several?
In 1983 I bought my first new car. It was a Plymouth Colt GTS Hatchback (Mitsubishi, 1.6L 4 cyl., Super Shift which Plymouth called Twin Stick. It was a 4 speed manual with a second lever for a high-low differential). It would burn rubber in 1st, 2nd and, sometimes, 3rd in low range and get 47 MPG in high range at highway speeds. I don't remember the price but it was about $7000-$7500.
47mpg is even great for today's standards!
More of the comparo videos! They are great, I watch them while doing the dishes.
The 1st uttering of the Cam-Ray
Or idiot lights
Man I loved my Datsun B210, wish I could find another one today. I was able to find a one owner clean Toyota Cressida though. The 4 door Supra is what it was nicknamed because it had the same powerplant. Keep up the best auto show ever created MotorWeek! Love you guys
@16:42 got enthusiastic at first hearing 5.7 second run for the Cam-ray then realized it was just for 40-55mph. Incredible how the current Cam-ray V6 could go from a dead start while this Cam-ray started at 40mph and yet the current V6 Cam-ray would still beat it to 60.
That was the start of camray legend I think???
September 19, 1983 -- same night Wheel of Fortune had first aired in primetime!
That Camry was a great car.
Absolutely incredible in the snow.
I think the Mazda 626 got fuel injection in 1986 and also there was a turbo model with 120hp and it was a quick car.
Yes, I had an 87 626 GT Turbo… it was wickedly quick for the time. Along with fuel injection the 86-87s also had a completely new interior/dash design, updated taillights and flush wide headlights.
Aaahhh John and the “Camray!”👌😂👍
One of my neighbors had the Nissan Stanza and he had it for years. I never heard him complain. The 626 got the styling here. I love the jaw breaker 😅test.
I owned an '86 626 GT 5-door for a while. Although mine was a beater with a bunch of problems when I bought it, I definitely did not hate that car. It looked great and it was fun to drive (whenever it was running close enough to right).
Grew up with two of these Mazda 626 models. Solid cars. My parents also had a 95 model later on as well.
I miss simple M/T cars with graphic equalizers. Good times.
❤❤❤❤ LOVE U MOTORWEEK ❤️👏👏👏... HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY EVERYONE ✌️
Pontiac Phoenix. The official car of weekend dad.
I find it a test of time when one car model in this episode is still seen currently running in the year the episode came out & still produced today. The Toyota Camry looks to me to have proven longevity.
Here we go with that Cam-ray: the saga with the pronunciation til the 92 model.
Edit: Mazda chime is familiar (is it a Australian built?)
My first car is 1985 Toyota Camry sedan(automatic) it's pretty nice car but wow that brake test is long.
OK I think he got it mixed up with the transmission on the mileage part
Didn’t Hyundai use a similar chime in the early 2000’s?
@@JoshBrinson I remember the USDM Hyundai one and that chime doesn't match the Mazda one. The Mazda just "sings" not the Hyundai one just "beeps". The only other car that does "sing" is Volkswagen
Edit: I forgot the Mitsubishi Starion.
LOL I love that someone pinned down the year when he corrected that!
@@hothatchpa lol. Of course that pronunciation make me cringe. So he didn't correct it in 83 model the 84 model the 87 model the 88 model and corrected it in 92 model. Took him almost a decade to correct it.
Lmao, wonder when the obsession for volt meters and oil pressure gauges started
My grandpa had a powder blue Stanza of that year. I nearly forgot that car until I heard the cheerful door ajar chime!
"The suspension kept out two biggest bags from _lying_ side by side". Wow - I had never heard an American use this word correctly. Well done, MotorWeek man.
What were the 5 Motorweek hunks doing with their hands when they all got into the Pontiac Phoenix?
I always liked that old Nissan chime
'What I still think of as a "Family Sized" car: If we'd stick to Honda Civics* for diriving our kids around we would be able to afford send them to college (or your favorite trade school)-$30k today is less than $11k in 1983.
College isn't worth the price of admission unless the goal is a degree in science.
The problem is Americans see small cars as a temporary embarrassment while they work towards barely being able to afford a big SUV or luxury car instead of saving for their future.
That generation of 626 was a thing of beauty.
the audio system in the Mazda looks beautiful
That Mazda 626 is a pretty darn cool car. Crazy good breaks for not having ABS. The Pheonix's styling looks so much better than its Chevy counterpart, the Citation.
I had a Mazda 626 in HS. It was a great car.
They didn’t test the AMC concord wagon, which was really a hatchback. But since it was basically a warmed over 1971 amc hornet, maybe it’s just as well.
So the Camry is the only car on this list still around. It's come a long way
I'd love to see this generetion Mazda 626 in its Turbo/GT version, at the time it must have been the fastest of the bunch-
The Mazda 626 was also sold by Ford as the Telstar. I don't live in the USA but our neighbors had a Telstar. I think it looked really nice when I was a young kid back then. I still do today.
It's amazing this guy went on to become the lead singer for the band Korn.
I had a new 1984 chevy citation for 2 years and had no problems at all.
I owned an 85 citation II. It had the one year only horizontal radio and hvac controls. My citation had no problems at all.
This is a nice comparison, with some cars we don't see anymore. Especially the Phoenix. But I noticed something about the Stanza: at the start, John said "along with the 3-speed automatic gearbox we didn't request", meaning it had an automatic transmission. The 33 mpg figure came with the automatic model but later, when the mileage points were given, John said that the car had a 5-speed manual. I guess it was an editing mistake.
Aw man, that 626 interior reminds me of my 1986 Mazda B2000 pickup.
I had one of those Mazda 626 hatchbacks in college. Great car. The hardest part was finding replacement parts for those adjustable shocks.
I think you just put basic ones in once they Went. Loved our blue 5 door 86 LX. Manual transmission. Great looks. Not quick, but handled well.
I've been thinking lately about John's continued mispronunciation of "Camry" as "Cam-Ray" back then, & am now wondering if Toyota told him to pronounce it like that just as Mitsubishi told the press to pronounce "Galant" "Ga-Lawn" for the first generation models.
I thought it was a typo on an early script and John simply locked in on Cam Ray forever after. But you are probably closer to the truth.
He probably dismissed any comments from staff early on with these things .This includes oil and voltmeter gauges that he kept harping about.
About 1992-93 he switched to the acceptable camry instead of camray.
John just says certain words h'weird
I didn’t expect an '83 Phoenix to appear, but okay. That car has character too.
I wish Mazda still made a 5 door hatchback. I had a 2006 Mazda6 hatch and it was more practical and efficient than small SUVs, and handled much better.
All these cars are beautiful
It says a lot about the state of the US car industry in 1983 that a Stanza can wow the reviewers.
That jawbreaker test @ 2:30 was funny.
Those 626 could last many years and miles. My wife had a new 85 we kept for 250,000 miles.
That generation of 626, 929 was truly great
It would be fun to know how many of each car are still functional. My bet on the winner would be the Cam-Ray.
The interior of all the imports were lightyears ahead the Phoenix. Those gages looked faded and used like Junk Yard replacements. 😂 (and im a GM guy). My favorite was the 626.
Still like those wheels on the mazda,thought they only came on the later turbo models
Today you couldn't do a comparison like this, because there are no family size hatchbacks. Everything is SUVs and "crossovers '.My 88 Dodge Lancer was the most useful car I've ever owned. I could throw my bicycle in the back without taking the front wheel of and once picked up a 50 gallon water heater with it, and it didn't handle like a truck.
By 1983 the bugs that GM's X-body cars seemed to be worked out, I remember by the early 2000's the later versions of the X-body cars were still somewhat commonly seen on the road while the earlier models were nearing extinct.
The GM X-body cars were better than people gave them credit for. I had a 1985 chevy citation and drove it till 1994.
Cool, I remember these cars 🥰
88 hp! My first car was an 82 Mustang with an inline six rated at 91 hp. I currently own a 2018 Mustang eco boost that puts out 310hp and 350ftlbs of torque.
626 was a hansome car and the Pontiac Phoenix was the best value. The 1983 Phoenix is a clone of the improved Citation II that addressed the reputation ruining record setting recalls of the original Citation.
That song in the beginning is really trippy.
I just love the Mazda 626 hatchback i owned one and i just loved everything about it😊 and ive been waiting for this Phoenix i love its desighn
Love the downhill 0-60 track
That Nissan "Datsun" Stanza took me back to reality in 1983. ALL Nissan cars were known as "Datsuns" until 1984, the transitional year when every model wore both Datsun & Nissan badges on the rear. From 1985-present, they were known only as Nissan. The all new 1984 Datsun 300ZX 50th Anniversary Turbos sold for $29,995 plus tax, insurance & dealer fees. The same price as a new Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. I know because my 300ZX is still in my garage with all the paperwork & 7,500 original miles. They were available on Dealer's lots starting July 11, 1983 & Dealers NEVER offered discounts!
I like John’s iPad and his cam ray
I’ve been trying a find a 626 from this gen or the next one to buy, but can’t seem to find them anywhere
My heart just sank to my stomach realizing these cars are 40yrs old. FORTY years old! Man, I feel old. I was only a kid in the 80s, but I remember when these were on the road. Of the group, my choice is the Mazda 626. I really like the design and it seems the plushest inside, only bested in that regard by the Pontiac Phoenix. Camry would be at the bottom for me due to having the ugliest exterior design and poor driving dynamics.