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2017.5 Mazda6 gives you more for the same money

The current Mazda6 has been around since the 2014 model year, but Mazda continues to update it and make it more enticing. For this midyear update that's earned the "2017.5" model year stamp, Mazda has added more standard features to both the base model Sport and midlevel Touring models. The Sport model now comes with blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert as standard features. The Touring model picks up navigation and heated seats as standard equipment. You can also opt for 8-way power leather seats on the Touring as well. If the extra features weren't enough, Mazda doesn't charge anything extra for the trim levels. All the base prices remain the same. The cheapest Sport model, which comes with a manual transmission, still starts at $22,820. The cheapest Touring model, again with a manual transmission, keeps its starting price of $25,070. Aside from a nice addition of features for no extra cost, there's something else interesting about the 2017.5 Mazda6, and that's the model year itself. The last time Mazda used a half-year designation was for the 2016.5 CX-5. It was the last model year of the previous generation CX-5, with the completely redesigned model launching for 2017. This leads us to believe that we may be seeing a completely new Mazda6 for the 2018 model year, with a reveal sometime within a year. It's possible Mazda could just do a significant refresh for 2018 as well, but the 6 also is the next model due for a complete redesign. And since the folks at Mazda have told us they're in the process of thoroughly updating the lineup again, we would lean toward the likelihood of a completely new car rather than a refresh. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Mazda 6 View 33 Photos Image Credit: Mazda Mazda Car Buying Sedan

Junkyard Gem: 1982 Mazda RX-7 GSL

The early Mazda RX-7 was one of the few bright spots for sports-car shoppers during the Malaise Era, a lightweight and simple rear-wheel-drive machine with a screaming Wankel engine under the hood. Even though it was designed mostly as a means of getting Japanese car buyers a loophole to keep their engine-displacement-based road taxes low, the early RX-7 sold well in North America. I still find these cars during my junkyard travels, but the 1981-1983 FB-series RX-7s have been getting scarce in recent years. Here's a very solid '82 that showed up in Denver during the winter. Japanese cars of this era tended to rust early and often, but this one appears to be absolutely corrosion-free. The odometer shows just a hair over 100,000 miles, so I'm guessing this car spent decades in covered storage. The seat leather shows a few rips, but the interior looks pretty good overall. The body has some dents and dings, nothing serious. It wouldn't have taken much to get this car back on the road and looking good. The GSL package got you four-wheel disc brakes, a limited-slip differential, and these cool-looking pillar badges.  The list price on a new 1982 Mazda RX-7 GSL came to $11,895, or about $32,350 in 2020 bucks. A new Datsun 280ZX coupe went for $14,499 that year, but was a much more powerful and prestigious car; the less opulent 200SX was just $7,739. If you wanted a new Celica Supra, the price tag was $14,598. The final year for the Fiat-badged 124 Spider (they were sold with Pininfarina badging for a few additional years) was 1982, and that car cost $12,290. Meanwhile, your Chevrolet dealer had new Z28 Camaros starting at $9,700 that year; the RX-7 would eat up the Camaro on a tight road course but would be blown away on the straights. The 12A rotary engine in this car made 100 horsepower from just 1.1 liters of displacement, putting smiles on the faces of those Japanese road-tax payers. Unfortunately, fuel consumption was scary, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the 1979 Oil Crisis. Why did this car end up in a place like this? It was found in an office parking lot with a flat tire and expired registration tags and towed away. Then it failed to attract any bidder interest at the subsequent auction and U-Pull-&-Pay picked it up for next to nothing. So, if you ever wanted an early RX-7, buy the next cheap one you find before it meets a fate similar to that of today's Junkyard Gem. This content is hosted by a third party.

Ford expands 'Do Not Drive' airbag warning to 33,000 more Ranger trucks

WASHINGTON — Ford on Monday warned an additional 33,000 owners of older pickup trucks in North America to stop driving them until potentially defective Takata Corp airbag inflators can be repaired. In January, Ford told 2,900 owners of model year 2006 Ford Ranger trucks to stop driving immediately after a second death was linked to inflators built on the same day. The expanded warning was prompted by additional testing, Ford, the second largest U.S. automaker, said in a statement, and now covers a broader time frame of production. Mazda Motor Corp said it was issuing a similar expansion for about 1,800 2006 Mazda B-Series trucks that were built by Ford after it had issued a warning for 160 trucks in January. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the vehicles pose "an immediate risk to safety" and urged owners to immediately schedule a free repair. Ford and Mazda have replacement airbag inflators available now and will tow vehicles to a dealership for repairs as well as provide loaner vehicles free of charge, the companies and NHTSA said. About 90 percent of the vehicles subject to the "Do Not Drive" warning are in the United States. Two U.S. senators in January questioned why Ford's warning only applied to a small number of the 391,000 2004-2006 Ranger trucks recalled because of Takata air bags in 2016 in the United States. Ford said last month the death in a July 2017 crash in West Virginia in a 2006 Ford Ranger was caused by a defective Takata inflator after a similar 2015 death in South Carolina. At least 22 deaths worldwide are linked to the Takata inflators that can rupture and send deadly metal fragments into the driver's body. The faulty inflators have led to the largest automotive recall in history. The other 20 deaths have occurred in Honda vehicles, most of which were in the United States. About a quarter of the 2,900 vehicles have been repaired since Ford issued the warning last month, the company said on Monday. Takata said in June it has recalled, or expected to recall, about 125 million vehicles worldwide by 2019, including more than 60 million in the United States. About 19 automakers worldwide are affected. Takata inflators can explode with excessive force, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks and have injured more than 200 people. The defect led Takata to file for bankruptcy protection in June.Reporting by David ShepardsonRelated Video: