Meet the “elder” Mazda R100 Coupe

When tired of the shiny new cars running on the street, sometimes, the image of a cute little box-shaped old car, with its distinctive engine sound running on the road, catches the attention of many people. Therefore, in the car enthusiast community in Hanoi nowadays, a small group of car enthusiasts are returning to the hobby of collecting old, original and beautiful cars to use according to their own preferences.

The 2-door sports model Mazda R100 Coupe, nearly 50 years old, is owned by Mr. Phan Thanh Tung, a car enthusiast in Hanoi, is one such car.

Mazda R100 Coupe was born in the period 1967-1973, belonging to the second generation in the Mazda Familia family. “Mazda Familia” is a compact family car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer between 1964 and 2003, with a total of 10,589,052 units sold worldwide. This series was sold on the market under different names such as 1000, 1200, 1300, 800, 808 and 818. It was replaced by Mazda3 in 2004.

 

The 2-door sports model Mazda R100 Coupe, nearly 50 years old, is owned by a car enthusiast in Hanoi. He is currently using a Honda CR-V, but every weekend, he enjoys bringing his “old wife” out for a care, washing and cruising to coffee shops with friends.

Although it has been “fighting” for many years on various roads with different weather conditions, the car still maintains its original paint with two colors, yellow and black. The paint is still very new.

According to Mr. Tung, this car was “born” in 1969 and registered in 1973. He found this car while traveling in Dak Lak. After getting the car, it took him some time to get used to its old gearbox and steering wheel. Mr. Tung did not disclose the purchase price at that time because “what matters is that I like it and it suits me. Vintage cars should not be measured in terms of numbers.”

The R100 is equipped with 12-inch wheels, and two disc brakes for the front wheels and drum brakes for the rear wheels.

Details on the front such as headlights, signal lights, and windshield wipers are still original. Only the rearview mirror has been replaced.

Being born in the 60s and 70s of the last century, the car still uses traditional manual window handles.

The simplicity is immediately noticeable when stepping into the R100’s cabin. The steering wheel is no longer original, but instead is from a Lada (Russia). The non-power steering wheel gives a heavy feeling at low speeds when turning. The center instrument cluster only has a tachometer and an odometer. Next to it are the electric clock, coolant temperature gauge, and fuel gauge. The audio and air conditioning systems in the car are new.

The interior has been covered with brown-red leather by the owner, which is very comfortable and harmonious with the exterior.

Being a 2-door coupe, the front seats need to be folded down for people to get into the second-row seats.

The rear windows in the passenger compartment can only be slightly opened.

The rear of the car has also undergone many changes, only the signal lights are replaced with the lights of a 5-ton truck. R100 is a rear-wheel drive sports car, so “drifting” is not too difficult with this “old lady”.

During transportation, the Mazda logo was lost, so the owner replaced it with “Sport”, which is not only true to the original design but also adds a youthful and dynamic feel.

Sharing more about his “old wife”, Mr. Tung said: “The difficulty when it comes to vintage cars is that the closer they are to their original condition, the better. Modifying them is too simple. Another lucky thing is that spare parts for this car are easy to find, so there is no difficulty in repair. The vintage car playground is livelier in the South than in Hanoi. I hope that more people will have a passion for and love classic cars in the future.”

Manh Quan

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