DRIVE THE MOBILE LOUNGE SUITE
Michael changed gear from furniture to a classic coupe
Michael Harris wasn’t a classic car enthusiast, let alone knowledgeable about 1980s Japanese cars. Then, six months ago, he spotted an online advertisement for a red Mazda 929 HB Coupe.
The 1986 two-door was just 2km away. Harris telephoned and bought it, sight unseen.
“The first time I saw it was when I picked it up,” Harris says. “I had seen a photo of the popup lights on it and I thought, that’s so cool. (The previous owner) had really taken good care of it.”
Harris paid $5500 for the clearly cosseted coupe. Bright red paintwork and grey velour upholstery belie its 34 years and 190,000km.
“I didn’t buy it as a cheap second car,” he says. “I wanted something a bit different, I suppose something you get noticed in, and you certainly do in that thing,” he says.
The HB series , known variously as the 929, Luce and Cosmo and built from 1981-86, was Mazda’s luxury flagship, particularly in turbo rotary Cosmo guise.
Harris’ s HB has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine with a five-speed manual transmission.
The brand (it only changed its name to Mazda Motor Corporation, from Toyo Kogyo Co, in 1984) had yet to make a six-cylinder engine; that came with the HC series.
Harris says he was surprised by how sweetly the 929 drives.
“It’s got quite a long wheelbase and also adjustable suspension, which would have been cutting-edge at the time. You can set it for soft and it’s like driving around in a big lounge suite, and it’s got cruise control as well.
“It doesn’t have all the electronic stuff that we take for granted now, like Bluetooth and so on. But I don’t think it should have it – it’s all about stepping back into the 1980s.” Harris , 46, a legal manager for Sydney’s light rail network, alternates between the Mazda and a Hyundai Tucson SUV.
“Before the Hyundai, before we got sensible, we had a BMW 335i and an Alfa GT coupe, and a while back I had a Saab 900,” he says.
“The Mazda is a basic car, so even if something goes wrong it’s not going to cost you a lot of money — unlike the BMW, where every time you drove near the shop it was going to cost you 1000 bucks, no matter what you were having done to it.”
Owning the modern-classic Mazda isn’t unlike his former hobby, buying and selling midcentury furniture in his native New Zealand.
“I’ve been buying spares for the car, some taill-ights, side mirrors and things, because one day you won’t be able to find them.
“And just like with mid-century Scandi furniture, you always find you have something in common with the people you meet — something most people aren’t interested in.”