1993 Ford Spectron XL-T
Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2025 6:16 pm
So I've been meaning to make more posts showing my other cars, so here's the latest post.
As of last week, this is now the vehicle I've had the longest in my current fleet. I bought it in March 2019.
It is a 1993 Ford Spectron XL-T!
It is a rebadge of a Mazda Bongo, which was a very popular van in the East, but not so much in the West. No version of the Bongo was ever sold in North America.
It has the Mazda RF engine, a 2.0L turbodiesel 4cyl engine with (I believe) 75hp and around 120 ft-lbs of torque. It is a very, VERY old school diesel engine, with an IDI/pre-chamber injection setup, no intercooler, and no emissions control whatsoever. I don't even have a Check Engine Light!
It is a 2WD model, which is rarer than the 4WD models, at least these days. It sends all its "power" to the rear wheels via a VERY, VERY short-geared 5spd manual transmission.
And yes, it is a RHD vehicle I drive regularly in a LHD country
When I first got it, it was on Nissan Bluebird (or maybe Nissan Prairie Joy) wheels... the fact that it had Nissan wheels on a Mazda van badged as a Ford bothered me
So I replaced the wheels and tires... I ended up getting steel wheels on eBay from mainland Europe for a Daewoo Lacetti, of all cars and I put a very specific set of aluminum wheel covers on it... from a Fox-body Mustang! `83-`84 only!
My Spectron and I have been featured in Hagerty actually:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profi ... f-america/
I've had it almost 7 years now and have put over 15k of its current 45k kms on it myself.
Hope you enjoy it!
As of last week, this is now the vehicle I've had the longest in my current fleet. I bought it in March 2019.
It is a 1993 Ford Spectron XL-T!
It is a rebadge of a Mazda Bongo, which was a very popular van in the East, but not so much in the West. No version of the Bongo was ever sold in North America.
It has the Mazda RF engine, a 2.0L turbodiesel 4cyl engine with (I believe) 75hp and around 120 ft-lbs of torque. It is a very, VERY old school diesel engine, with an IDI/pre-chamber injection setup, no intercooler, and no emissions control whatsoever. I don't even have a Check Engine Light!
It is a 2WD model, which is rarer than the 4WD models, at least these days. It sends all its "power" to the rear wheels via a VERY, VERY short-geared 5spd manual transmission.
And yes, it is a RHD vehicle I drive regularly in a LHD country
When I first got it, it was on Nissan Bluebird (or maybe Nissan Prairie Joy) wheels... the fact that it had Nissan wheels on a Mazda van badged as a Ford bothered me
So I replaced the wheels and tires... I ended up getting steel wheels on eBay from mainland Europe for a Daewoo Lacetti, of all cars
and I put a very specific set of aluminum wheel covers on it... from a Fox-body Mustang! `83-`84 only!My Spectron and I have been featured in Hagerty actually:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profi ... f-america/
I've had it almost 7 years now and have put over 15k of its current 45k kms on it myself.
Hope you enjoy it!
