For many, their image of Mazda is associated with the Mazda 626. This large family car became symbolic with the 1980s, having been introduced to the market in 1979. The first Mazda 626 featured was a front engine rear-wheel drive compact and had little to differentiate it from the Mazda Capella, on which it was based. The 1983 redesign however, took the Mazda 626 to new heights using the GC Platform and the new look scooped numerous awards. Further reinventions of the Mazda 626 took place in 1988, 1993 and 1998 – the car’s production culminated in 2002.