Junkyard Find: 1995 Mazda MX-6 LS

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The Mazda-Ford partnership brought us quite a few Familia-based cars during the 1990s, including the post-1990 Escort and 1991-1994 Mercury Capri. The chassis of the bigger Mazda Capella spawned some interesting US-market offspring as well, and we've got one of them for today's Junkyard Find.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

This is a late second-generation MX-6, sporting some not-so-fast but reasonably furious early-21st-century customization touches and now residing in a Denver-area junkyard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

When the second generation of the front-wheel-drive Capella was born, it debuted in North America as the 1988 Mazda 626.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The 626 had been available here in coupe form prior to the 1988 model year, but the two-door version was given the MX-6 name while the 626 became a sedan-only model.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

Ford had been planning to replace the Mustang with a coupe based on the 626 platform, but the idea of a Mustang on a Japanese front-wheel-drive platform proved intolerable to red-blooded American Ford owners and the car hit showrooms with Probe badges.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The North American 626, MX-6 and Probe were the same cars beneath their skins for the 1988 through 1997 model years.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

This one is an LS, which means it got V6 power, air conditioning, alloy wheels, disc brakes all the way around and so on.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The MSRP for the MX-6 LS in its third-to-last model year was $21,648, or about $45,341 in 2024 dollars.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

Meanwhile, a similarly equipped 1995 Ford Probe GT listed at $20,040 ($41,973 after inflation). These Mazda badges added a lot to the price.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

Both the Probe and the MX-6 were built at the AutoAlliance plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. After years of souring Ford-Mazda relations, Ford took over the plant in 2012.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The V6 is the same 2.5-liter DOHC engine that went into the more upscale 626s, rated at 164 horsepower and 160 pound-feet.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

As a veteran of more 24 Hours of Lemons races than any other human on the planet (168 total events, though California racer Anton Lovett should pass me during 2025) I can say that— given equally skilled drivers in both cars— the V6-powered MX-6/Probe is a quicker car on a road course than the V8-powered Fox/SN95 Mustang it was supposed to replace. Unfortunately, the Mazda V6 tends to be a bit less reliable than the Ford Windsor and way more explodey than the Ford Modular 4.6 under endurance-race abuse.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

This car has the base five-speed manual, so it would have been respectably fast and fun to drive for its time.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

I couldn't find the brand of this aftermarket hood scoop, but it's not as cool as the ones offered by J.C. Whitney during the early 1970s.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The decklid wing, however, is a factory unit and appears to be the same as the one that went onto the second-generation Probe. When you live your life a quarter-mile at a time, you need all the downforce you can get (especially on the rear wheels in a front-wheel-drive car).

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

These are not the factory 1995 MX-6 LS wheels, but they sure look familiar (the fact that each wheel is held on by a single lugnut and has an oversize hub hole suggests that U-Pull-&-Pay just grabbed a set of readily available 5×114.3 wheels from a pile and threw them on in order to move the car around the storage lot).

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The aftermarket tape stripes appear to have been competently installed.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The last year for the MX-6 was 1997, after which it was replaced by, well, nothing. If you were an American car shopper searching for a new two-door Mazda for 1998, your only choice was to get a Miata.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

However, Mazda renewed the MX-6 trademark in 2018, so perhaps we'll see the name revived on what we must assume will be a crypto-sporty crossover in the future.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

This generation of MX-6 LS was sold as the MX-6 Mystère north of the border.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

The combination of Italian and English in this JDM commercial makes the MX-6 seem so… worldly.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

Why get a toy Porsche when you can get a real MX-6 in your Australian toy store?

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

junkyard find 1995 mazda mx 6 ls

1995 Mazda MX-6 in Colorado wrecking yard.

[Images: The Author]

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