Today’s Mazda has one of the tiniest V6 motors money can buy. Let’s see if that unique and fascinating attribute alone is worth what is being asked to actually buy it.

Can you say “Oh hell yeah!”? There, I knew you could. How did I know that? Well, that was the general response to yesterday’s . That was a nice-looking car with modest aspirations for not too much cash and that resulted in a bunch of virtual high-fives and an impressive 87 percent Nice Price win. Hell yeah, indeed!

About 11,000 U.S. citizens immigrated to Canada in 2019. That made the U.S. the fifth-largest source of immigrants for our northern neighbor. Why do people switch teams like this? Most likely it’s due to work or family. Alternatively, they may have gotten fed up with the janky political system in the U.S. or find the stereotypical gentility of the Canadian lifestyle to be a draw.

Today’s proves one more reason why people may gravitate to Canada. Up there, this model carried the wonderful name “Precidia.” Isn’t that awesome? It sounds like some sort of magical pharmaceutical product or Star Wars character.

This MX-3 happens to live in the U.S. and hence lacks the lovely model name appendage. But don’t let that sour you on the car—it still has lots going for it.

One of the main attractions here is the presence of Mazda’s quirky 1.8-litre DOHC V6 engine. This is one of the smallest displacement automotive V6s ever offered and was originally intended as a road tax dodge in its native Japan. Here in the U.S., the K8 V6 made 130 horsepower and 115 lb-ft of torque. That’s not a lot of either, but the little V6 makes up for that somewhat by being a lot of fun to listen to.

Adding to that fun is a five-speed stick and a body painted in Raspberry Metallic which is almost as wonderful as that Canadian model name.

Before we get into the details of this specific car, let’s just stop a minute and ask, when was the last time you saw one of these on the road at all? I’ve come across a few MX-3s in the wrecking yard—although never a V6 edition—but I can’t even think when was last time I spied one actually being driven.

Here’s that chance. The car looks to be in reasonable shape, although that purple-nurple paint does show some battle scars on the bumpers. Other issues include some significant surface rust on the curb-side rear wheel arch and some peppering on the nose. On the plus side, the car carries its factory aero-add-ons on both nose and hatch which would probably be unobtainable otherwise. Factory alloy wheels underpin and could use a good scrubbing.

The interior is a mad mix of good and bad. The seat upholstery shows no significant sign of wear, while all the other tactile surfaces look like they’ve done their time. The steering wheel is wrapped in a creepy aftermarket cover and ahead of that, there’s some sort of odd dash toupee on the instrument cluster. That fits about as well as you might imagine.

Industrial mats cover the floors, and perhaps most comically of all, there seems to be a cup holder clamped to the emergency brake. I guess that would give you the option of running over those school children or spilling your latte should the hydraulics fail. The automatic mouse belts are also an annoyance endemic of the era.

There are 119,000 miles reading on the five-barrel odometer and some velcro mounts for god-knows-what stuck to the dash next to that. The ad claims the car “runs and drives Good !!!” and notes that the title is clear. It’s offered by a Honda dealer, and that shop must have taken the car in trade. Considering that the asking price now is $2,795, they must have given the prior owner something like three magic beans for it.

The question is whether anyone should really pay that $2,795 price for it as it presently sits. That gets you the bragging rights of having one of the smallest automotive V6s on record, that crazy raspberry paint, and the possibility of telling people it’s a Precidia even though it’s not Canadian.

What do you think, could this rare and uniquely-equipped Mazda make that kind of cash even though it’s showing some wear and tear? Or, is this mixed bag of an MX-3 just too expensive to bag yourself?

You decide!

Minneapolis, MN , or go if the ad disappears.

H/T to glemon for the hookup!

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