The marketing strategy in the UK was baffling; only one different model was available in any one year. Those on the continent could however choose between basic, bit better, GLX and GLX with 'cabrio top' - not a full convertible but a fold hackable soft top opening the entire roof. There was one with teddy bear wheels and steering wheel. Living in Amsterdam, where public transport is excellent, I only occasionally needed a car and then I'd rent one of these. Fantastic little car.
Oh sure, Chris, Mazda with all of their "rotary engine knowledge" are going to go to all the trouble to engineer and build a single chamber Wankel engine, an engine design literally known for petrol thirst, expensive maintenance and high-revving power delivery, and put it in a small, entry-level urban vehicle intended to appeal to people who apparently don't seem to know what power steering is and base their like of a car solely on aesthetics. It's almost like Goffey doesn't know what he is talking about. Comparing the shape to the Morris Minor? Really? I'm pretty sure the designers of this car considered neither the Wankel nor the ancient Morris when they sat down at a clean sheet of paper in roughly 1985.
It was a complete shame of Mazda's decision makers not to include power steering as standard for all 121 series which is specifically designed for urban driving...
@@joelhaydon4599 In my country, neither power steering nor 1.5 version. Shame on the decision makers at Mazda :( 1.3 is not a deal breaker but lack of power steering has prevented me buying it to date... I am sure there have been plenty of people like me in the same shoes.
@MrSax84 come to australia mate! Mazda 121 was voted best car of the year in the early 90's here. very very popular in this country :) and you still see many in my town and other cities including myne!...... they were quite popular in eastern europe and columbia too!! :D
Mine is the same year and everything is the same but it has power steering . I am in Australia . He said what i thought,It is the modern equivalent of the morris minor (which I have too )
@@davidsoper1885 I'm looking at buying one just for work it's the same year after watching this I was worried they'll have no power steering.but after hearing you say you got the same vehicle as I also live in Australia I was kind a relieve in a sense
Well back then they had 20% stock. Had controlling stock of 33.4% in '96, but in the new millennium sold of most of their stock. Right now it's 3%. This partnership resulted in why a lot of Mazda cars 'look' similar. Just the body shell and some interior components are the same.
Me (108kg) in the boot and 3 Maori boys all over 120kg plus my mate like 60kg and his missus (55kg) who was driving went to town one night in one of these she said it felt weird after took it to the shop it was a write off the seam welds had split lol.
LOL, Chris. Why would Mazda put an engine as high-maintenance, unreliable, and fuel inefficient as a rotary in a cheap city car? The rotary is extremely ill-suited for stop-and-go traffic in particular. It’s best in a sports car. And what does 4WS experience have to do with their decision not to include power steering in their cheapest, smallest car? It’s not like Mazda invented the power steering pump, a feature every manufacturer had available at the time. Sometimes reviewers really have to grasp at straws to find problems with a car.
No, Chris Goffrey thinks he knows Mazda's target market and economics better than Mazda does. The lack of a moonroof is one thing, and even that is excusable given the relatively low sales Mazda might expect for this car in the UK, but the rotary engine? I mean seriously, why on Earth would Mazda have put the rotary engine in this little car? I can't even imagine they considered it for more than 3 seconds...
@VOLVORULEZ1995 many Ford and Mazda was quite the same: mondeo/626 probe/mx6 fiesta/121 some have the same fuel engines. Today's mondeo and 6 are made on the same base.
If there was a new car without power steering, power windows, radio, and a/c, I would buy that car. Some people don't need that stuff. I have none of what I just listed in my 96 Miata, because I tore it all out. You want luxury and comfort? Great, but some of us like to drive our cars, not be driven by them.
A rotary in a 121? Mmm. A sun roof? Mmm. Automatic only. Strange. He is wrong. The first Mazda 121 was actually in 1976! These 121's later on could be had with a 1.5 L engine and they flew.
a whole 1.3 litre engine?? sounds like a diesel, and can you say fugly? that kickdown of the transmission on the highway sounded like a wounded cow mooing
I have had loaners of these way back in the days when I had my Astina.usually 1.3's and the odd 1.5 1991-1995 models.a fun car for the day when the normal car was in for services.
Usually better steering feel/response. you might have had to pay extra for some cars to have power steering back in the day. If the car is light (around 1000 kg or less) i prefer not to have power steering especially if the car has any sportiness handling wise. Modern cars are so huge that it makes sense to have power steering in every car basically.
Actually they both were. The Festiva was a rebadged Kia Pride/Mazda 121 and the Aspire was a rebadged Kia Avella. The model tested was also sold as an Autozam Revue, part of Mazda's three branch companies (the other two being Eunos and Éfini).
"Would you like power steering?" "No" WTF??!! Why would you NOT want power steering in a modern car? He did ask the question to a woman... so she probably didn't even know what it was.
Back then Japanese car makers were known for making cars low for better handling and it was unusual for Japanese cars to actually be tall or roomy. So please, keep your jokes about racism out of here.
this car was so much ahead of it's time, even Mazda didn't think to introduce a five door version
There was the 323
They did, and they also made a open air version
2020...we drive a 121 from 1992
What a classic such a nice looking car
Lol the days when antennas actually retracted and you could "take your stereo with you". Dylan said "times, they are a changing".
I can say, I actually OWN one of these and everything he's saying is true.
The marketing strategy in the UK was baffling; only one different model was available in any one year. Those on the continent could however choose between basic, bit better, GLX and GLX with 'cabrio top' - not a full convertible but a fold hackable soft top opening the entire roof. There was one with teddy bear wheels and steering wheel.
Living in Amsterdam, where public transport is excellent, I only occasionally needed a car and then I'd rent one of these. Fantastic little car.
i have one! it runs,runs,runs,and runs! never stop!
my 1991 Mazda has been fighting for it life since I got it .
bro i have to tune our mazdas 121 ..
@@victorgonzales6989 Is it still going?
Still using it today 1991 Mazda Revue 121. Traveling 350km every week and daily city travel. Bought it for $250 now for 7 years
Just Picked up 1991 autoazm revue for $500. Love it
Oh sure, Chris, Mazda with all of their "rotary engine knowledge" are going to go to all the trouble to engineer and build a single chamber Wankel engine, an engine design literally known for petrol thirst, expensive maintenance and high-revving power delivery, and put it in a small, entry-level urban vehicle intended to appeal to people who apparently don't seem to know what power steering is and base their like of a car solely on aesthetics.
It's almost like Goffey doesn't know what he is talking about. Comparing the shape to the Morris Minor? Really? I'm pretty sure the designers of this car considered neither the Wankel nor the ancient Morris when they sat down at a clean sheet of paper in roughly 1985.
It was a complete shame of Mazda's decision makers not to include power steering as standard for all 121 series which is specifically designed for urban driving...
In Australia we got them with power steering idk and bout anywhere else
@@joelhaydon4599 In my country, neither power steering nor 1.5 version. Shame on the decision makers at Mazda :(
1.3 is not a deal breaker but lack of power steering has prevented me buying it to date... I am sure there have been plenty of people like me in the same shoes.
I have a 1.5 121, bright red and Named bubblez :D lol i love it best little car ever
"Would you like power steering?" "Oh no". :-)
Steve Coogan must have used this guy as an influence for some of his characters. Like a combo of Alan Parsons and Saxondale
She goes like a scolded Beegee
@MrSax84 come to australia mate! Mazda 121 was voted best car of the year in the early 90's here. very very popular in this country :) and you still see many in my town and other cities including myne!...... they were quite popular in eastern europe and columbia too!! :D
Mine is the same year and everything is the same but it has power steering . I am in Australia . He said what i thought,It is the modern equivalent of the morris minor (which I have too )
@@davidsoper1885 I'm looking at buying one just for work it's the same year after watching this I was worried they'll have no power steering.but after hearing you say you got the same vehicle as I also live in Australia I was kind a relieve in a sense
The aerial dosent retract he said as he retracts it !! .....
Yeah but its manual, so people can fuck with it.
Thankfully I have shoulder muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Great car 2018
Well back then they had 20% stock. Had controlling stock of 33.4% in '96, but in the new millennium sold of most of their stock. Right now it's 3%.
This partnership resulted in why a lot of Mazda cars 'look' similar. Just the body shell and some interior components are the same.
new top gear should be like this instead of just driving fast and expensive cars
my first car, the best :)
I had one..good drive..but boot leaked which apparently was a problem in a few of them so changed for 323.
My mum's first car.
My aunt has one, she has a red 1995 model and she calls it the red tomato.
Me (108kg) in the boot and 3 Maori boys all over 120kg plus my mate like 60kg and his missus (55kg) who was driving went to town one night in one of these she said it felt weird after took it to the shop it was a write off the seam welds had split lol.
I really like this car
Weird looking, but practical, well made, economical, and good for what it is.
LOL, Chris. Why would Mazda put an engine as high-maintenance, unreliable, and fuel inefficient as a rotary in a cheap city car? The rotary is extremely ill-suited for stop-and-go traffic in particular. It’s best in a sports car.
And what does 4WS experience have to do with their decision not to include power steering in their cheapest, smallest car? It’s not like Mazda invented the power steering pump, a feature every manufacturer had available at the time.
Sometimes reviewers really have to grasp at straws to find problems with a car.
lol i hope that rotary engine thing was a joke.
No, Chris Goffrey thinks he knows Mazda's target market and economics better than Mazda does. The lack of a moonroof is one thing, and even that is excusable given the relatively low sales Mazda might expect for this car in the UK, but the rotary engine? I mean seriously, why on Earth would Mazda have put the rotary engine in this little car? I can't even imagine they considered it for more than 3 seconds...
Back then people didn't know much Rotary's people thought RX-7s would go forever simply because they are Japanese.
Unusually for a subcompact car, this was only offered as a conventional saloon.
H436 AKM, registered January 1991, tax due 1 April 2005
Even my man was disappointed because it didn't had a rotary engine in it. 3:53
good car :)
@VOLVORULEZ1995 many Ford and Mazda was quite the same: mondeo/626 probe/mx6 fiesta/121 some have the same fuel engines. Today's mondeo and 6 are made on the same base.
2024 manejo uno y wow es hermoso
What a Wankel! That would have been a terrible idea!
Have exact same car. Has "heat" lit up on dash, very hard to coldstart if anyway can give advice
I learned to drive in one
If there was a new car without power steering, power windows, radio, and a/c, I would buy that car. Some people don't need that stuff. I have none of what I just listed in my 96 Miata, because I tore it all out. You want luxury and comfort? Great, but some of us like to drive our cars, not be driven by them.
trancedsailor radio is Okay man.
That looks like a re-badged Geo Metro.
The Geo Metro looks like a rebadged Suzuki Swift to me
A rotary in a 121? Mmm. A sun roof? Mmm. Automatic only. Strange. He is wrong. The first Mazda 121 was actually in 1976! These 121's later on could be had with a 1.5 L engine and they flew.
2:44 lol “no”
i t was a re badged ford fiesta in 1996
@Silvertailsfan4297
Hahah! Better don't try - it is immortal! Ninja car!
Runabout 2
As the "Revu", a reference to its Japanese version, the Autozam Revue.
a whole 1.3 litre engine?? sounds like a diesel, and can you say fugly? that kickdown of the transmission on the highway sounded like a wounded cow mooing
So that's where the ides of the Dodge Neon came from...
its the same as my car except i have power steering! :D
mitch rider very good car
I know somebody didn't want power steering. I'm guessing she really had no idea what Chris was asking.
I have had loaners of these way back in the days when I had my Astina.usually 1.3's and the odd 1.5 1991-1995 models.a fun car for the day when the normal car was in for services.
One, twenty one guns
bought myself one for 300 bucks what a deal
Me too but 200euros 6kk ago
6months*
Fiat Multipla looks nice
4:01 Any excuse...!
mazdra?
my friend drink drived his 121 into a ditch was so funny cause its a 121.
blackbarn24 I don’t get it
Was it a pot hole
How can someone reject power steering? tf?
Usually better steering feel/response. you might have had to pay extra for some cars to have power steering back in the day. If the car is light (around 1000 kg or less) i prefer not to have power steering especially if the car has any sportiness handling wise. Modern cars are so huge that it makes sense to have power steering in every car basically.
I have a 2007 Renault Clio mkII with no power steering, it was an option, so it doesn't have it.
idk about others, but I do want power steering more than anything else because I'm mostly driving around town
@@cheesyeurotrance95 you don’t need it in a small light car👍
hmm this has got to be the car the Ford Aspire was based on
Nope. It's the European version of the Ford Festiva. The Aspire was based on a KIA.
Kia must have used a lot of MAZDA parts because the interior of this car is almost a CLONE of the Aspire
Actually they both were. The Festiva was a rebadged Kia Pride/Mazda 121 and the Aspire was a rebadged Kia Avella.
The model tested was also sold as an Autozam Revue, part of Mazda's three branch companies (the other two being Eunos and Éfini).
All same car, different badges.
And yes, power steering please.
I like Mazdas...
...But not this one ;)
this one is amazing
@mippy95 and i have 1.5
"Would you like power steering?"
"No"
WTF??!! Why would you NOT want power steering in a modern car? He did ask the question to a woman... so she probably didn't even know what it was.
Or she is not as weak as you...
"Tremendous amount of headroom for a Japanese car" OOEER... bit racist there BBC. LoooooL
Back then Japanese car makers were known for making cars low for better handling and it was unusual for Japanese cars to actually be tall or roomy. So please, keep your jokes about racism out of here.