1987 Mazda 121 LX review from Australia and New Zealand

Very reliable, no major problems during the short time we had the car (was written off in a light accident)

Only problem from memory was the dodgy fuel sender and/or fuel gauge, the gauge would go down as far as half way and stop.

Not a particularly safe car as one may imagine (it is a shopping trolley with a roof after all) - car was rear ended lightly, resulting in extensive damage to chassis & rear structure of the car. Driver suffered minor back injuries on impact, and oddly the radio flew out of the dashboard also.

Quite a fun car to drive, (albeit slightly embarrassing) and slightly cumbersome, high roof height and small length/width makes high wind driving a little hairy at times.

Very spartan in terms of comfort (vynil floor instead of carpet etc) and no gadgets to go wrong.

Super economical (though never found out exactly how much mileage per tank due to the gauge).

Excellent for urban driving, very manoeuverable, although lack of power steering makes parking more difficult.

1.1 litre engine, 8 valve sohc, with 4 speed gearbox - excellent for around town. Anything above 70km/h and engine+road noise increases exponentially, very dodgy at 120km/h - sounds like it is going to explode.

Later 1.3 litre with 5 speed models are a bit more refined. The ratios between the 4 an 5 speed gearboxes are the same, the latter just has a much needed extra gear.

Overall a decent car when you think in terms of what it is designed for and when it was designed, as obviously it cannot even 1/2 stack up against an equivalent modern super-mini.

They are great little cars, but I would advise getting a bigger 1.3-1.8 litre range car - if you can afford to; they are generally better equipped, slightly safer and better for both high speed & urban driving.