Which BG-Chassis Car Does It For You? 1991 Mercury Tracer LTS vs 1993 Mazda MX-3

Good morning! We’re starting the week off with one of my favorite automotive platforms, the Mazda BG. Thanks to the Underappreciated Survivors group on Facebook, I’ve got two rarities to show you.

On Friday, we looked at two cars that were pretty similar, and as is often the case, the votes were really tight as well. In fact, the Chrysler New Yorker won by just three votes over the Packard 200. There wasn’t much consensus when it came to reasons for voting; some folks liked the history behind the Packard name, some were put off by the Chrysler’s missing bumpers, and some simply voted on price. But you all seemed to agree that the big ol’ straight-eight dinosaurs were cool.

Obviously I agree, or I wouldn’t have bothered writing about them. Between these two, I think my preference would be for the Packard, but I’d be excited to get a chance to drive either one. I have a bit of family history with both of them, and it would be fun to try driving something similar to either my great-grandfather’s favorite highway car (the Chrysler) or my dad’s first car (the Packard).

One of the most unsung heroes of the automotive landscape in the 1990s was the Mazda BG platform. The BG formed the basis for the Mazda 323 and Protege, the Ford Escort and Mercury Tracer, and a few other offshoots. They’re excellent little cars, and that ain’t no jive talkin’. Fun to drive, good-mannered, and very durable, as witnessed by how many of them are stayin’ alive after thirty years. I’ve owned one, driven many, and serviced about a zillion of them. How deep is my love for this platform? Well, the humble Ford Escort LX that I owned for three years is still one of my favorites of the nearly 40 cars I’ve owned, despite the tragedy of having an automatic transmission. OK, I think I’m out of Bee Gees puns now. Let’s take a look at some cars.

1991 Mercury Tracer LTS – $4,000

Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Carlisle, PA

Odometer reading: 155,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

In 1991, the Ford Escort sold in North America moved from Ford’s own chassis to the Mazda BG. At the same time, Mercury’s variant, the Lynx, was dropped. In its place, Mercury sold a new generation of its Tracer captive import, which previously was a rebadged BF-chassis Mazda 323. The new Escort and Tracer were a huge improvement over the old Escort/Lynx, but the engines remained the same old Ford CVH – unless you got one of the special ones.

Everyone remembers the second-generation Escort GT, with its asymmetrical grille and colorful paint options, but Mercury had its own spicy Tracer, the LTS, powered by the same Mazda BP-ZE twin-cam engine. It puts out 127 horsepower in stock form and is capable of a whole lot more with some modifications. With a rev-happy engine like the BP, you want a manual gearbox, and this Tracer has one. The seller says they bought it to teach their kids how to drive a manual (a noble endeavor, these days) and that it runs and drives great.

And now we come to the one big drawback to the BG cars: the automatic seat belts. Every US-market Escort, Tracer, Protege, 323, and MX-3 from this era has them. Luckily, they’re not the permanently-attached kind, so you can unplug the motors and just latch the shoulder and lap belts separately, manually, if you want. At least this one looks nice inside, though I’d like to see what’s under those seat covers. The seller says the air conditioning worked when they bought it, but it has lost its charge over time and will need some repairs if you want to use it again.

Outside, it’s clean as a whistle. The paint looks good, and I don’t see any damage. It’s worth a check for rust underneath, but it passed a safety inspection in August. Pennsylvania is pretty strict about its inspections, so I wouldn’t expect there to be a problem. It has the original wheels and the requisite ’90s sporty sedan rear spoiler.

1993 Mazda MX-3 RS – $2,500

Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter OHC inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Salem, SC

Odometer reading: 175,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Someone of a pedantic nature out there in the audience is howling with rage right now, shouting to whoever will listen that this is not a BG-chassis car. Yeah, you got me; Mazda calls it the EC chassis, but it’s based on the BG. And besides, the jokes in the introductory paragraph only work if I call them both BGs. Anyway, this is the Mazda MX-3, a strangely insectile little sports coupe built by Mazda 1991-1998, and sold in the US from 1992-96.

The MX-3 became famous in auto enthusiast circles for its optional engine, a teeny-tiny 1.8-liter V6. Sadly, this car doesn’t have that option. Instead, it has a single-overhead-cam 1.6-liter four. It only makes 88 horsepower, but this is a lightweight car, and it has a five-speed manual to help you make the most of the power that’s there. This one runs and drives well, and is currently a daily driver. The seller includes a list of recent work done, including cooling system work, a new fuel pump, front brakes, and new tires.

This one has mystery seat covers as well, and shows a little more wear and tear than the Tracer does, but it’s not in bad shape at all. There’s a big crack in the top of the dash, probably from being parked out in the sun. Speaking of being out in the sun, the seller says the air conditioning works fine on this one. The radio, however, does not work.

It’s a little scruffy outside: the paint is coming off the bumpers, there are some dings and dents, and the rear spoiler is missing. But it doesn’t have any rust on it, so that’s something. The headlights that give this car its bug-like appearance are in serious need of a polish. Normally when they get this bad, I’d suggest just replacing them, but these don’t appear to be available anymore.

Silly disco jokes aside, cars based on the Mazda BG (and later BH and BJ) chassis really are some of my favorite little cars to drive, especially with manual transmissions. This basic architecture lasted all the way through 2003 here in the US, ending with the last Ford Escort ZX2. They’re still plentiful if you look around, but the more special and fun versions like these are getting harder to find, and they’re starting to be affected by the RADWood virus, which makes prices creep upwards. Best grab one now if you want one. Which one of these is more your style?