1969 Mazda 1200 (Modified 13b) Coupe

Description

Launched on the Australian market to critical acclaim in 1968, Mazda’s 1200 series was a compact, affordable family car directly aimed at Ford Escort and Holden Torana buyers.  In typically Japanese fashion, the Mazda was better made, more generously equipped and – just as importantly – cheaper than its rivals, establishing Mazda as a genuine player in the local market.  Initially sold in four-door guise, the 1200 range was expanded to include a stylish fastback coupe soon afterwards, featuring front disc brakes in place of the sedan’s drums, along with 13-inch wheels and taller gearing, resulting in a higher top speed.  Other notable features included reclining front seats with adjustable headrests, a push-button radio, cigarette lighter, tacho, heater-demister, tinted glass and a simulated wood-rim steering wheel with alloy spokes – all for the low price of $2195.  Mechanically the coupe and sedan were identical, both powered by an all-alloy 1169cc four-cylinder unit rated at 73 horsepower along with a four-speed manual transmission.  Alongside the conventionally-powered 1200 coupe, Mazda offered the exotic R100, the first mass-produced car from the Japanese car maker to employ a rotary engine design after the exclusive Cosmo.  Using the same bodyshell, the R100 offered even higher equipment levels, 14-inch wheels and even bigger front disc brakes, plus stiffer springs and of course that extraordinary free-revving 10A twin rotor engine, rated at 110 horsepower.  Like all early rotary Mazdas, the R100 enjoys a cult following in Australia today but interest in the 1200 series has also begun growing in recent years, with few good survivors left on the road.