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Junkyard Gem: 1988 Mazda 323 GTX

Back in early 2007, when the late Davey G. Johnson got me my first job writing for an automotive publication (well, unless you count writing for the Year One catalogs back in the mid-1990s) and I took on this goofy pen name for real, I didn't quite grasp that any readers might be interested in the stuff I saw during my frequent junkyard trips. So, when I took my crappy Nikon Coolpix 2500 to the now-defunct Pick Your Part in Hayward, California, and saw a super-rare Mazda 323 GTX among all the Tercels and Rabbits in the IMPORTS section, I just took a few shots of this interesting car for my own enjoyment. These days, I'll take more than 100 photographs of a junkyard car of such great historical significance, editing them down to the best couple of dozen, but in March of 2007 I got just three of the 323 GTX. Robert Capa had his Magnificent Eleven at D-Day, and I've got the Magnificent Three of the GTX. Here they are. Any Mazda 323 of the immediate post-GLC era is a real junkyard rarity today, but Mazda sold very few of the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged homologation-special 323s over here during the 1988 and 1989 model years. A mere 1,243 of these cars made it to North American streets. Back in 2007, they weren't worth much (in fact, they still aren't incredibly valuable, if we go by Bring a Trailer real-world sale prices), and so this one showed up in El Pulpo's yard. These cars wouldn't be considered particularly fast by 21st-century standards, now that we've had decades of street-legal Mitsubishi Lancer Evos and Subaru WRXs flinging snow and mud around, and they tended to grind their powertrain components into a costly oil-and-metal-shaving slurry. But they were maniacally cool in the late 1980s, and that's enough. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. "Even with the sun and heavy rain, I made it here faster with my car!"

NFL player Alfred Morris receives his thoroughly restored 1991 Mazda 626

Washington Redskins starting running back Alfred Morris might not drive a flashy sports car or SUV, but after today, he'll be driving the nicest 1991 Mazda 626 on the planet.
Back in July, Morris temporarily traded in his 626 - cheekily named Bentley - for a 2014 Mazda6 loaner courtesy of Mazda, and today the sedan was presented back to him after the ultimate PR stunt: a reported 275-man-hour restoration that left this 22-year-old daily driver looking like it just rolled off the assembly line.
Not everything was brought back to original condition, though. The expired sticker from Morris' final year at Florida Atlantic University was left on the windshield, but to fit the car's nickname, a few high-end touches were added to the interior. This includes the quilted, cross-stitched leather seats (just like a real Bentley) and the touchscreen Pioneer audio system. There's also a plaque under the hood marking this car as the "Alfred Morris Project."

Mazda CX-5 Luggage Test | How much cargo space?

We're already seen how Mazda's largest crossover, the CX-9, does at stuffing luggage inside its cargo hold. Now it's time for the next rung down the Mazda ladder. The Mazda CX-5 has 30.9 cubic-feet of space behind its raised back seat, which on paper, is considerably less than its top competition. The Hyundai Tucson leads the way with 38.7 cubic-feet, the Honda CR-V (39.2) and Toyota RAV4 (37.5) are basically the same, and the Subaru Forester has between 33 and 35 depending on options. However, the CX-5 does have more than the Chevrolet Equinox (29.9), Jeep Compass (27.2) and Ford Escape when its sliding back seat is in its aft-most position (33.5 when all the way forward).  Basically, this compact Mazda's cargo area is midpack, which makes it a good choice for my first luggage test of the segment. Let's see how much of the luggage in my garage fits inside. As a refresher, I use two mid-size roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).  I started by keeping the cargo cover in place to see how much fits underneath it. The answer is the four largest bags. The two smaller ones did not. OK, now let's remove the cargo cover, which is an unusual design. Rather than a roller-type cartridge that you manually pull into place or a rigid hatchback-like unit that rises up when the liftgate goes up, the CX-5 basically combines the two. The forward bit is attached to the liftgate and unspools when opened.  To detach it, you need to unfasten these plastic clamps and then remove the cartridge reel much as you would a normal cargo cover. OK, and now here's how much the CX-5 can fit with the cargo cover removed.  All of it! That above configuration is just the first thing I came up with, but there's likely additional Tetris formations to be found. Note that the tailgate does close here but the middle cases' wheels are awfully close to the window.  I'm not going to stop there, though. I went ahead and rummaged through my garage to see what it would take to fill'er up. There you go: one duffle bag and one gym bag stuffed into the spaces. You could probably fit a grocery bag right in front there, too.