1975 Mazda 808 Wagon review from Australia and New Zealand

Ignition would hold the key in the ignition barrel. Easily repaired by pulling out the ignition barrel and cleaning.

Rear drum brake shoes came loose. The pins that hold them to the backing plate had worn through, and no longer locked. Bought new pins from the brake shop, and replaced myself.

Destroyed the old 1400cc engine driving through a creek crossing. The fan caught the water, and sucked into the radiator. This caused the radiator to empty, and I cooked the motor. I have since replaced it with a 1300cc motor.

Original shock absorbers were worn out when I bought the car. I have since replaced them with aftermarket Koni ones.

The car is used for setting up rallies. It is cheap, cheerful, and very capable. It treads where some four wheel drive vehicles (RAV4, Forester, CR-V) fear to go.

I have slowly upgraded it as I have gone. It now has the bare minimum of interior trim (no carpet, sound deadening, centre console, radio, etc).

It does have:

- Upgraded springs and Koni shock absorbers

- RX-7 Series 2 Front disc brakes and calipers

- 626 rear drums

- 323 five speed gearbox

- late model 323 radiator and thermo-fans (to prevent further radiator explosions)

- A seam welded chassis

The car is a barrel of laughs to drive, and has been very reliable for the amount of very hard kilometres that it does.

It is very nervous at high speeds (anything above 140km/h), and I have had difficulty getting the front suspension set-up to my liking.

It needs more power (perhaps a 12A rotary transplant), but makes up for it in low running costs and ease of maintenance.