The History of the Mazda 3: A Look Back Through Time

Edmunds.com

The History of the Mazda 3: A Look Back Through Time

Edmunds' look back through the years at the Mazda 3 and its predecessors: a thorough history of the 3 and virtually every Mazda leading up to it.

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jakedasnake66

Miss my '03 Protege5. It's been almost 10 years and I still regret on trading it in for the worst car I ever owned, '04 Pontiac Grand Prix.

See them on the road today and I still think "Damn, that was one car that was done right!"

hank39

The 2001 MP3 had split-spoke Racing Hart rims. Wonder where the rims came from in the pic IL posted.

darthbimmer

My wife's first real car after college was a used '95 Protege LX with about 33,000 miles on the odometer. We added 120,000 of our own in the next 7 years. We held on to the car that long because it continued to provide reliable, inexpensive transportation. While acceleration from the 1.5L engine was leisurely even with the 5 speed manual we liked the fact that the suspension was very tossable. Countless times I thought to myself, "This car is totally ready for another 50hp." We also liked the roomy interior that Mazda engineers managed to fit inside the compact exterior dimensions. We could carry 4 adults on short trips and 3 adults plus all our gear on week-long road trips. Consequently a Mazda 3 has been on our short list every time we've considered buying another inexpensive small car.

darthbimmer

My wife's first real car after college was a used '95 Protege LX with about 33,000 miles on the odometer. We added 120,000 of our own in the next 7 years. We held on to the car that long because it continued to provide reliable, inexpensive transportation. While acceleration from the 1.5L engine was leisurely even with the 5 speed manual we liked the fact that the suspension was very tossable. Countless times I thought to myself, "This car is totally ready for another 50hp." We also liked the roomy interior that Mazda engineers managed to fit inside the compact exterior dimensions. We could carry 4 adults on short trips and 3 adults plus all our gear on week-long road trips. Consequently a Mazda 3 has been on our short list every time we've considered buying another inexpensive small car.

jakedasnake66

hank - that pic was a non-NAM version and it had the same 17 inch rims as the EX and Protege5 from 2002 (2003 it changed again). The mirrors and side signals are another sign. The side turning lamps didn't come to the US until 2003 and they were clear lenses, not yellow.

jakedasnake66

hank - that pic was a non-NAM version and it had the same 17 inch rims as the EX and Protege5 from 2002 (2003 it changed again). The mirrors and side signals are another sign. The side turning lamps didn't come to the US until 2003 and they were clear lenses, not yellow.

tall10512

Love the last two generations of the Mazda3 and currently own a 2006 Mazda5 (based on the Mazda3 platform). The only thing that I wish Mazda would correct is the rear wheel well rusting that seems to plague all Mazda's within the first 5-7 years of the vehicles life. My Mazda5 is starting to rust in the arches now and it is effecting my decision on which vehicle to purchase next in the coming year. Do they have some poor supplier of sheetmetal? I want a Mazda6 or Mazda3 as my next vehicle but not if it will be rusting in 5-7 years again!