Curbside Classic Outtake: A Valiant Successor?

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

This CC Outtake is not about the Valiant per se; I’ve got the ultimate A-Body in the works for that (and we did a Duster 340 already), and it’s coming soon too. This is about what cars are worthy to be considered a Valiant successor. From the looks of this photo, this household thinks highly of the Mazda 626 to supplant the now rarely-used Plymouth. Well, they’re in good company; the 626 cultivated a rep for reliability, right from the beginning. In the eighties and nineties it was held in particularly high regard in Germany, and was the best selling Japanese car for a few years there, in part to its excellent showing in the ADAC Pannenstatistik. It was at the top of that list in 1994 and 1995.

Edward’s first car was a gen1 RWD 626 bought from the St. Vinny’s lot for a couple of hundred bucks. Sadly, it was a sedan and not the rather handsome coupe. It was a tough little beast, and the engines in these vintage Mazdas have a rep of being every bit the equal of Toyota’s R20 and R22 for indestructibility. Old Mazda pickups with that torquey but only 75 horsepower producing engine are still in ample supply on the streets hereabouts. It was definitely a Valiant ersatz-mobile. The later ones I don’t have much experience with. Anybody?

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Accs Accs on Feb 27, 2010

    Interesting. The 626 Coupe screams a early Peugeot coupe. Related somehow?

  • David C. Holzman David C. Holzman on Feb 27, 2010

    I consider my Accord to be the logical successor of my parents' '70 Valiant. Both really fine cars, similar size, economical, reliable, with good acceleration and handlng for their respective eras.

  • SCE to AUX All that lift makes for an easy rollover of your $70k truck.
  • SCE to AUX My son cross-shopped the RAV4 and Model Y, then bought the Y. To their surprise, they hated the RAV4.
  • SCE to AUX I'm already driving the cheap EV (19 Ioniq EV).$30k MSRP in late 2018, $23k after subsidy at lease (no tax hassle)$549/year insurance$40 in electricity to drive 1000 miles/month66k miles, no range lossAffordable 16" tiresVirtually no maintenance expensesHyundai (for example) has dramatically cut prices on their EVs, so you can get a 361-mile Ioniq 6 in the high 30s right now.But ask me if I'd go to the Subaru brand if one was affordable, and the answer is no.
  • David Murilee Martin, These Toyota Vans were absolute garbage. As the labor even basic service cost 400% as much as servicing a VW Vanagon or American minivan. A skilled Toyota tech would take about 2.5 hours just to change the air cleaner. Also they also broke often, as they overheated and warped the engine and boiled the automatic transmission...
  • Marcr My wife and I mostly work from home (or use public transit), the kid is grown, and we no longer do road trips of more than 150 miles or so. Our one car mostly gets used for local errands and the occasional airport pickup. The first non-Tesla, non-Mini, non-Fiat, non-Kia/Hyundai, non-GM (I do have my biases) small fun-to-drive hatchback EV with 200+ mile range, instrument display behind the wheel where it belongs and actual knobs for oft-used functions for under $35K will get our money. What we really want is a proper 21st century equivalent of the original Honda Civic. The Volvo EX30 is close and may end up being the compromise choice.
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