A facelifted GD chassis Mazda 626 sedan, which also goes by the name Mazda Capella in Japan. The 626 / Capella is a car that competes in the D segment sedan market with other Japanese rivals such as the Toyota Corona, Nissan Bluebird and Honda Accord.
Is there anything special about this GD chassis 626 / Capella? Nothing too outstanding or unique as it is an ordinary car back in its days. Is it forgotten and under appreciated by people today? Yes for sure.
Now, back to the car itself. The GD 626 / Capella is the 4th generation car that carries the Capella nameplate though in some market, it was named as 626. It was offered with a few kinds of body style which consists of a 4 door sedan like the one pictured here, 5 door liftback / hatchback sedan, 2 door coupe and a 5 door wagon. Though there is a slight variant of the 5 door wagon which goes by the name 5 door van. The main variants itself like the sedan, liftback / hatchback and coupe were manufactured from 1987 to 1991 until its successor came. The wagon carried on for 10 years until 1997 while the van lasted until 1999.
There are plenty of engine options for this car which ranges from 1.6 litre to 2.2 litre petrol engines. There's also a 2 litre diesel engine option as well. Most are front wheel driven but 4WD variants were available as well.
If there's one single remarkable feature of this GD 626 / Capella, it is likely the 4WS system. The GD 626 / Capella is one of the few pioneering Japanese cars that implemented the 4 wheel steering system, not too long after the 3rd generation Honda Prelude that was famous for being the first mass production car that had this system.
Equipment wise, the GD 626 / Capella is well equipped car especially for higher spec variants. There are features like tilt steering wheel, 4 power windows, air conditioning with automatic controls and even an optional automatic adjustable suspension system. Of course, not each and every GD 626 / Capella were equipped with all these features but it is indeed possible to spec it up that way if you're in certain markets such as Japan. Certainly not bad at all from a small car maker like Mazda to be able to offer such options back in 1980s.
The interior of the GD Mazda 625 / Capella.
Option list for the GD Mazda 626 / Capella which includes the automatic adjustable suspension system, air conditioning with automatic controls and sunroof.
The GD Mazda 626 / Capella isn't really a commonly seen car in Malaysia today. Not many are for sale either and from what I checked, the prices for these cars are at down bottom levels. Most are being sold at under RM5k even when some of them still look quite decent for a car that is over or close to 30 years old.
Credits to the original photo owner for all the photos in this post.
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