FAW-Mazda
The FAW-Mazda joint venture produced the first generation Mazda 6 from 2006 until 2015 (!). The JV produced the sedan, the wagon, and the liftback. The sedan was the best-seller by a large margin, the wagon came second and and the liftback came third, so it is super rare. At the time, the liftback body style was quite unknown in China. The liftback didn’t make it quite as long as the sedan and the wagon, production ended in 2010.
Interior
The interior looked as fresh as the exterior! The owner had to be a Mazda fanatic. The black leather seats are original. It is sporty too, with a thick-rimmed steering wheel and large round air vents.
Mazda marketed the fastback as a sporty alternative to the sedan and wagon. A large spoiler on the bootlid and racy five-spoke alloy wheels come standard on this model. Note the old-school antenna on the roof. The darkened windows are an after-marked addition.
Specifications
Mazda offered two engines in the front-wheel drive Mazda 6 fastback: a 2.0 with 146 hp (108 kW) and 183 Nm and a 2.3 with 163 hp (120 kW) and 204 Nm. Mazda mated both engines to a 6-speed manual or, as in this car, to a 5-speed automatic. The car in the photos is the 2.3 model, recognizable by the twin exhaust pipe tips.
The top speed of the Mazda 6 2.3 fastback was 204 km/h, and 0-100 took 9 seconds.
Character time: 一汽马自达, Yīqì Mǎzìdá, FAW-Mazda. It is a beautiful badge with individual characters, placed & spaced perfectly. At the time, most manufacturers in China used platform badges with printed-on characters.
In 2010, the FAW-Mazda 6 fastback 2.3-liter model sold for 239.800 yuan. The FAW-Mazda joint venture does not exist anymore. In 2021, FAW-Mazda was integrated into Changan-Mazda. The China-made Mazda 6 is largely forgotten today, even in China. Well, we do what we can to keep the memory of these old joint-venture cars alive.