Our family has a rust-free 1994,1.3 manual with power steering and factory A/C with many miles on the clock (approx. 150,000) here in South Australia where they are very popular and well liked. It's such a nice car to drive. They're known as the 121 "Bubble" here. I bought it second hand for my wife's birthday about 16-years ago and last year our elder son (b. 2002) took it over. His pals think it's cool. It is. I hope we never let it go.
They look to have been far more popular in other parts of the world than here, where they seemed a bit weird and a bit expensive compared with other cars of their type. Air conditioning would have been nice, but I am not sure that it was even an option over here... Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
@@lloydvehicleconsulting No worries. Just a matter of opinion here: I know you're trying to keep the RUclips videos simple and low-tech, but the driving sections would be improved with a camera ('phone?) holder mounted on the nearside window, behind your nearside shoulder, so we can view you at the controls and see the dash, and/or a bit of view forward, as Number 27, Hub Nut, Steph, etc. do. Otherwise we just see your face and head-liner!
No Budget Reviews has a certain aesthetic, (because there is no budget) and I have no plans to change anything about it, as we are not trying to emulate the better channels. If it were to look more fancy, like all those other people, then it wouldn't be No Budget Reviews. As you say, it is your opinion, but you are the first to ever mention it.
We see a fair few of these in New Zealand, although I haven't ever seen those neato spotlamps before. My parents have a 1.5L manual Revue which is decently quick and a blast to drive. It is however very hard for me to look at the little freak without having a little chuckle at how silly it looks. Thanks for this great review, I always enjoy your insight in these no budget reviews
Yes, the front bumper on this car is a special one, we believe it was a factory or dealership fit option. The 1.5 sounds like a good choice for one of these. Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting all the way from New Zealand!
Great little cars. I’ve got 2. One is a 94’ 1.5, auto. And the other is a 97’ 1.3, manual. In Australia the canvas top model was known as the “Fun Top”. Only a handful were released in 93’. All 121’s in Australia had no power window option. The fun top had front power windows and mirrors as standard.
Yes, very different specification here as opposed to Australia, and this is a highly optioned car, so it is different again from the standard UK ones. I think they had stopped selling them over here by 1995.
I love these and they are IMHO a bit of a '90's "Jelly Mould" styling icon. They were very popular here in Australia, and I have seen quite a number of them with the rear spoiler as featured here. However, I have never seen the front bumper valance fog light wings like this one has before (they may have been an extremely rare dealer fit option? or just not available in our market). In fact, I still occasionally see one in use "in the wild", so popular were they. We got the canvas roof option in the previous generation model (marketed as "fun top") here, but I don't recall seeing it on a second gen car here. I hope to have one of these in my small fleet of classics post my retirement. Always enjoy your video's sir, and this was especially so given my fondness for the subject. Cheers!
They were available with the canvas roof on the first generation 121s over here, but those are virtually non-existent now. These are also exceptionally rare in the UK. The Kia Pride was sold for nine years in this country, and so they tend to be more common. I drove one of those back in 2020, actually. The front bumper on this car was a rare option, we aren't entirely sure if it was a factory or dealership option.
Well....I like it. It's somehow cuddly and friendly. I have lots of time for what you call a "jazzy" interior. I much prefer it to the drab "black" of most modern cars I see reviewed. That is the first time I can recall seeing you operate a sun-roof. ☀It worked brilliantly, too.
Hi Joseph I have never seen one of these however in the early 80's I owned a Mazda 9 a very nice car comfortable good on fuel quiet and smooth driving unfortunatly the tin worm had done it's work and it would not pass the MOT so it went to the scrap yard Loomies in Derbyshire I was sad to see it go best regards Andy Allen.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting Thank yes it was a 929 nice car though totally rotton underneath after I tried to get a MOT on it I was convinced when I bought it had a dodgy ticket.
I remember these-just. The earlier version was very 1980s square I think. Very odd to see a boot or trunk on such a small car…but it wasn’t the only example. Our own Vauxhall Nova was offered in saloon version….i remember seeing a few of them years ago…never as popular as the hatchback tho. First of the rover metro with the 1.1 engine had a carburetor + CAT…..just for a couple of years before adopting injection. This forgotten, odd ball little car went up against the likes of the Ford fiesta. Prob should have ignored the crowd and bought the Mazda in hindsight. My uncle used to have an early 80s pre-facelift 323 1.3 5spd manual. Not inspiring and not especially quick compared with other 1.3s of that era, but it was nearly 100% reliable. The only issue they repeatedly had was the strange vacuum assist brakes-was fine on the front but the brake power to the back was always below spec-which always caused issues on the MOT….because they couldn’t figure out how to make it much better. Would be interesting to see one of those on review.
Yes, I drove a Nova Saloon in 2022 on Sensible Secondhand Classics. I do like the older Mazdas, they tended to be very well made, but just like a lot of modern Mazdas these days, they suffered quite badly from rust. A lot of early 1990s cars did not adopt fuel injection immediately.
Yes the Mk1 Mazda 121 was a very good little car but its replacement was very strange indeed. This Mk2 was larger, 4 door only and Automatic only. The limited spec was probably a result of the Gentlemen's Agreement on Japanese car sales. Had this Mazda been released today with automatic only it could have been a best seller whereas in the early 1990s small cars gave of their best when delivered with a manual gearbox. It is, however very unique, extremely cute and did lend some of its front end design queues to the Daihatsu Applause I think.
Yes, these were only sold with a very limited range of engines over here, and most were the GLX model. Other countries received a lot more variety. This is absolutely the sort of thing which would sell much better today than it did in the early 1990s, but the high pricing and limited supply would have hampered it in the UK market.
my 2nd car was a 1977 Mazda 1000 2 door saloon - odd gearing and reluctant to rev but felt much better than the very tired Avenger it replaced ( in my opinion a good Avenger would have been better ) but I only had it 3 months before being rear ended and written off by a minicab driver who blew positive for D&D
That's a massive shame! I have actually seen a Mazda 1000 from that era, as Ian Seabrook tested the same car which I had seen at the first ever HubNut social event five year ago.
I prefer the original 121 that became the Kia Pride and Ford Festiva. I liked the Quattro style arch flares and the practical use of a hatchback, some had a cloth retractable roof too. Hats off to Mazda for the adventurous styling on this later model but it's a step too far for me and seems a bit too contrived and cutesy.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting Indeed, on this one anyway. The below bumper spot light bits make it look sporty, but then the back looks goofy. BUT it's still better looking to me than a LOT of modern things
Your nose, and it's ability to sniff out these fascinating cars from the recent, forgotten, past is a national treasure! Thank you, sir.
I got offered this access to this amazing collection back in December, sir, and we are slowly working our way through it...
Our family has a rust-free 1994,1.3 manual with power steering and factory A/C with many miles on the clock (approx. 150,000) here in South Australia where they are very popular and well liked. It's such a nice car to drive. They're known as the 121 "Bubble" here. I bought it second hand for my wife's birthday about 16-years ago and last year our elder son (b. 2002) took it over. His pals think it's cool. It is. I hope we never let it go.
They look to have been far more popular in other parts of the world than here, where they seemed a bit weird and a bit expensive compared with other cars of their type. Air conditioning would have been nice, but I am not sure that it was even an option over here... Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting!
@@lloydvehicleconsulting No worries. Just a matter of opinion here: I know you're trying to keep the RUclips videos simple and low-tech, but the driving sections would be improved with a camera ('phone?) holder mounted on the nearside window, behind your nearside shoulder, so we can view you at the controls and see the dash, and/or a bit of view forward, as Number 27, Hub Nut, Steph, etc. do. Otherwise we just see your face and head-liner!
No Budget Reviews has a certain aesthetic, (because there is no budget) and I have no plans to change anything about it, as we are not trying to emulate the better channels. If it were to look more fancy, like all those other people, then it wouldn't be No Budget Reviews. As you say, it is your opinion, but you are the first to ever mention it.
These were a big selling model in Australia from 91 to 97, we even had a grey bumper and steel wheels base model.
We had an L specification 121 over here, although they are very rare.
I got one from France.
1.1 Carburator from 1992 which is fast enough to me. Still workin absolutely fine.
That is a version we never got over here... Thank you ever so much indeed for watching and commenting, hope you enjoyed the video!
Love this generation of 121. A excellent review as always Sir.
We aim to please, Mr Watters!
We see a fair few of these in New Zealand, although I haven't ever seen those neato spotlamps before. My parents have a 1.5L manual Revue which is decently quick and a blast to drive. It is however very hard for me to look at the little freak without having a little chuckle at how silly it looks.
Thanks for this great review, I always enjoy your insight in these no budget reviews
Yes, the front bumper on this car is a special one, we believe it was a factory or dealership fit option. The 1.5 sounds like a good choice for one of these. Thank you very much indeed for watching and commenting all the way from New Zealand!
Great little cars. I’ve got 2. One is a 94’ 1.5, auto. And the other is a 97’ 1.3, manual. In Australia the canvas top model was known as the “Fun Top”. Only a handful were released in 93’. All 121’s in Australia had no power window option. The fun top had front power windows and mirrors as standard.
Yes, very different specification here as opposed to Australia, and this is a highly optioned car, so it is different again from the standard UK ones. I think they had stopped selling them over here by 1995.
Lovely cute cartoon early Impreza vibes. I love a 121 with a boot.
It's very much a matter of taste, but many people absolutely love these, although there are hardly any left in this country.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting I remember the Kia pride being based on the 121 but I don't recall ever seeing a saloon.
They made saloon and estate versions of the Kia Pride for some other markets.
I love these and they are IMHO a bit of a '90's "Jelly Mould" styling icon. They were very popular here in Australia, and I have seen quite a number of them with the rear spoiler as featured here. However, I have never seen the front bumper valance fog light wings like this one has before (they may have been an extremely rare dealer fit option? or just not available in our market). In fact, I still occasionally see one in use "in the wild", so popular were they. We got the canvas roof option in the previous generation model (marketed as "fun top") here, but I don't recall seeing it on a second gen car here. I hope to have one of these in my small fleet of classics post my retirement. Always enjoy your video's sir, and this was especially so given my fondness for the subject. Cheers!
They were available with the canvas roof on the first generation 121s over here, but those are virtually non-existent now. These are also exceptionally rare in the UK. The Kia Pride was sold for nine years in this country, and so they tend to be more common. I drove one of those back in 2020, actually. The front bumper on this car was a rare option, we aren't entirely sure if it was a factory or dealership option.
Well....I like it. It's somehow cuddly and friendly. I have lots of time for what you call a "jazzy" interior. I much prefer it to the drab "black" of most modern cars I see reviewed.
That is the first time I can recall seeing you operate a sun-roof. ☀It worked brilliantly, too.
The sunroof actually jammed after I opened it. Jim had to come and reset it for me manually. This is why I don't tend to touch them on old cars.
I vaguely remember this car
Not exactly common, are they, sir?
Not at all. Do remember the xedos 6, my best friend's father had one and enjoyed the opportunity to drive it. Very nice motor!
Sir, we would absolutely love to try a Mazda Xedos 6....
Hi Joseph I have never seen one of these however in the early 80's I owned a Mazda 9 a very nice car comfortable good on fuel quiet and smooth driving unfortunatly the tin worm had done it's work and it would not pass the MOT so it went to the scrap yard Loomies in Derbyshire I was sad to see it go best regards Andy Allen.
My pleasure, sir! The Mazda would probably have been a 929 around that time. The rust on cars like that (and like this) was pretty awful...
@@lloydvehicleconsulting Thank yes it was a 929 nice car though totally rotton underneath after I tried to get a MOT on it I was convinced when I bought it had a dodgy ticket.
They used to rust dreadfully... We know about dodgy MOTs, sir, particularly back in the day.
I remember these-just.
The earlier version was very 1980s square I think.
Very odd to see a boot or trunk on such a small car…but it wasn’t the only example. Our own Vauxhall Nova was offered in saloon version….i remember seeing a few of them years ago…never as popular as the hatchback tho.
First of the rover metro with the 1.1 engine had a carburetor + CAT…..just for a couple of years before adopting injection.
This forgotten, odd ball little car went up against the likes of the Ford fiesta. Prob should have ignored the crowd and bought the Mazda in hindsight.
My uncle used to have an early 80s pre-facelift 323 1.3 5spd manual. Not inspiring and not especially quick compared with other 1.3s of that era, but it was nearly 100% reliable. The only issue they repeatedly had was the strange vacuum assist brakes-was fine on the front but the brake power to the back was always below spec-which always caused issues on the MOT….because they couldn’t figure out how to make it much better. Would be interesting to see one of those on review.
Yes, I drove a Nova Saloon in 2022 on Sensible Secondhand Classics. I do like the older Mazdas, they tended to be very well made, but just like a lot of modern Mazdas these days, they suffered quite badly from rust. A lot of early 1990s cars did not adopt fuel injection immediately.
Yes the Mk1 Mazda 121 was a very good little car but its replacement was very strange indeed. This Mk2 was larger, 4 door only and Automatic only. The limited spec was probably a result of the Gentlemen's Agreement on Japanese car sales. Had this Mazda been released today with automatic only it could have been a best seller whereas in the early 1990s small cars gave of their best when delivered with a manual gearbox.
It is, however very unique, extremely cute and did lend some of its front end design queues to the Daihatsu Applause I think.
Yes, these were only sold with a very limited range of engines over here, and most were the GLX model. Other countries received a lot more variety. This is absolutely the sort of thing which would sell much better today than it did in the early 1990s, but the high pricing and limited supply would have hampered it in the UK market.
my 2nd car was a 1977 Mazda 1000 2 door saloon - odd gearing and reluctant to rev but felt much better than the very tired Avenger it replaced ( in my opinion a good Avenger would have been better ) but I only had it 3 months before being rear ended and written off by a minicab driver who blew positive for D&D
That's a massive shame! I have actually seen a Mazda 1000 from that era, as Ian Seabrook tested the same car which I had seen at the first ever HubNut social event five year ago.
Good Evening Sir!
Good Evening to you as well, sir!
My old rover 400hhr from 1999 had the passenger window switch in that position too, very annoying.
Yes, so did my 416 HH-R and both of my Rover 45s. Seems to be a common Japanese cost saving measure...
I prefer the original 121 that became the Kia Pride and Ford Festiva. I liked the Quattro style arch flares and the practical use of a hatchback, some had a cloth retractable roof too.
Hats off to Mazda for the adventurous styling on this later model but it's a step too far for me and seems a bit too contrived and cutesy.
These cars are so rare in this country that everyone seems to forgotten about them and just how unusual they are anyway!
I can't think of another car that the front and rear seem to not match.
Really, sir?
@@lloydvehicleconsulting Indeed, on this one anyway. The below bumper spot light bits make it look sporty, but then the back looks goofy. BUT it's still better looking to me than a LOT of modern things
This is a really rare optional fit bumper. Even Jim doesn't seem to have seen another one with this in the metal.
@@lloydvehicleconsulting It's unique, I'll give it that! I do have a soft spot for Mazda. An MX6 is top of my list.
I filmed one of those last year, sir, although I wasn't able to drive it.