Mazda Capella

Mazda 616 Sedan (1977 )

The Mazda 616 was a car of the middle class, and was built from 1970 to 1979 in Mazda 's headquarters in Hiroshima. In Japan, the 616 was the model name of Capella, which also graced the successor models, while these were sold in export markets under the name 626.

With the models 1000/1300, 1500/1800, 616, 818 and 929 as well as the Wankel models RX -2 and RX -3 Mazda held at the beginning of the 1970s the sensor according to the export markets of Europe and U.S.. These efforts were initially hardly successful, as Japanese cars were considered exotic and own automobile production had a hard time especially in countries. The sales success prevented him also that Japanese manufacturers formed at that time the bodywork of cars as under U.S. sense of style. While this went through as a tribute to the U.S., European car buyers want not really friends with the boldly curved lines and the generous chrome trim. Mazda met the difficult market environment with extensive features and low sales prices, but it took some years to brand cars Mazda had established on the European market. The Mazda 616 has always remained an outsider on European roads; only the much simpler shaped successor model 626 was granted greater success.

The Mazda 616 was offered as a four-door saloon ( sedan) and as a two-door coupe. They both had a water-cooled 1.6-liter piston engine (75 PS ) carried out 55 kW and a four-speed automatic transmission and a propeller shaft or drive the rear wheels. For a short time, a 1.8 - liter engine with 74 kW (100 PS) could be ordered, models with this engine were designated Mazda 618 basically was the Wankel model RX- 2 is an engine variant of the 616, especially since the RX- 2 mainly differ by some equipment details and of course the drive from the 616.

During its construction the Mazda 616 's always been bestowed facelift, whose most striking features are small changes to the external appearance. Thus, the rectangular wide-band headlamps of the first series have been replaced in 1972 by the dual round headlights of the RX-2 and the rear design has been changed several times. From 1975, the body of the 616 a slightly longer and striking designed front which made the car act was dynamic. In this form, the model has been built until 1979.

The Mazda 616 is long gone from the everyday streetscape; only a few copies have been able to defy the passage of time. High value loss in the 1980s, low acceptance in the European classic car scene and precarious spare parts are able to be mentioned as the main reasons.