Many cars out of the late 80's such as the 3rd gen Honda Prelude or the Nissan S12 have well established fans, not only because of their unique qualities such as the V6 in the S12 or the 4WS on the lude, but unfortunately because of their resemblance to the legendary Toyota AE86 Corolla. That car has a ridiculous following, mainly because of the anime Initial D, and as such many fans want to own a car like the one in the show. At first the prices of 86 hatchbacks went up, then the price hike expanded to the coupes, and now pretty much if your car is boxy like an 86 and has pop up headlights some kid will come slap a fujiwara tofu shop sticker on the side. Somehow however, there is a boxy japanese fastback that managed to slip under the radar of many of these types of fans.
The Mazda Familia Astina, or 323 Astina or 323F, which I will be referring to from here on out as the Astina, is a fastback submodel of the Mazda 323 also known as the Familia. Honestly the 323 had a lot of variants that I could have and probably will eventually make shrines to, but this one is probably my favorite of the bunch because it's just so cool. A tangent I want to get off on is pop up headlight placement. I think pop up headlights are pretty much universally loved by car enthusiasts, they add so much character to the look of cars and are a very neat look back into technology that once was. That being said, not all pop up headlights are created equal. In my opinion, the FB Rx7 has odd pop up headlights that don't overhang the sealed beam headlights, and that always looked a bit off to me. Don't get me wrong, I love the look of that car, but moreso with the lights down. The Nissan 300Z (Z31) is another example of a car that I have notes about the pop up headlights of, since they are too far forward that they cut slots in the front of the bumper for them I feel that they lack the purpose that most pop up headlights have. On the contrast, the Cizeta-Moroder V16T just has headlights too far back, and too much going on. I know it's kinda silly to be critiquing a car that is so far out of my budget that I couldn't even be bothered to entertain the idea of owning one but all this to say that I have a certain way that I find pop up headlights to be styled that looks good, and the Astina NAILS IT.
The front of the car has this super round yet boxy look that looks like the 180/240SX or the Ford Probe, but its really simple and flat in a way that gives off a cuter look in my opinion. The rear however, especially the tail lights and license plate frame are remarkably similar to the Toyota Sera, another sought after Japanese fastback of the time. I really love the gray panel that breaks up the lower and upper halves of the body, it would be neat to see a two tone that extends up to that. The factory two tone, while not splitting the car along that panel, does look wonderful. I am a sucker for two tones in general and I think this one is executed very nicely. I also have a soft spot for any Mazda car that uses the eternal flame badging (The NA Miata was my first car after all). It is hard to exactly articulate why I like the styling of this car other than just saying that it is a cute car. It is a bubble car like the aforementioned Toyota Sera or the Nissan NX, which both share many design similarities. All of these cars are challenging to describe without the word "round", but I really think that the Astina is a unique looking car, especially considering it was one of the few attempts Mazda made at the time to step far away from the notchback cars they were making, and design something way out there. I think hatchbacks look quite sporty, and this car certainly looks like it can move!
Now lets talk about the drivetrain... or rather drivetrains. The Astina could come with one of SEVEN engine configurations, with carb'd or SOHC engines available in 1.5, 1.6, and 1.8 liter displacements. but curiously enough, that only covers six engines..? Well that mystery seventh engine would be the DOHC 1.8 Mazda BP engine. Yes, THAT BP engine. All of the praise that the 1.8 Miata engine has ever recieved, every good thing you have ever heard about that car, you can now cast upon this one as well. Of course the other engines this car could have are all in the bulletproof Mazda B engine family as well.
