Quote Originally Posted by blackshine007
I think the only reason Mazda never imported any of the ZE's was because Ford didn't want any competition with the mustang. Just with small mods at the time, a '93 Probe GT would walk the same year mustang on top end. The ZE would've been even nastier to it. They could've brought back the 626 and MX6 GT names with the better engine. Freaking ford ftl.
Exactly.

Actually, Ford saved them in the 80's when mazda wasn't doing so hot. They screwed Mazda in the '90s when they introduced the CD4E transmission. The 626 was the best selling Mazda and was selling really good. Most people bought the 4 cylinder atx and didn't know they were buying a ticking time bomb. The engines and other transmission choices were pretty good. When paired to the CD4E, it caused all type of overheating issues with that good 4 banger. Naturally, critics write about the trans problems, people avoid them like the plague. Mazda USA was damn near worth nothing after '95. No sports car. After '97, no 2 door of any sort. Which left them with 2 vague 4 door sedans, a pick up truck not theirs and a near luxury sedan. Their image is alot better now, but the cars are heavy as hell. You won't find anything under 2800 lbs rolling on their show room floors no time soon, unless the Mazda2 comes next year
I didn't know Mazda was doing that bad back in the 80s. I thought the 323 and 626 were selling like hotcakes. And then in the late 80s, I thought the 626 and MX6 sold great as well as the B-Series. But yeah, through the 90s, Mazda got bland. They should have released the Mazdaspeed 626 back in '98. Twin turbo KL ftw.