Rare Mazda Koala Wheels Are Like Ronal Teddy Bears From Down Under
Look as smooth as a koala’s brain with these on your car.
Which bear is best? I don't mean in terms of whatever sitcom spawned that meme, I'm asking you about wheels. Is it the famous Ronal teddy bears, those iconic novelty wheels—or is it their smooth-brained cousins, the Intra Koalas? Because as I just found out, they were both a factory option on the same car, and yet this is the first time I'm hearing about them. And probably, your first time too.
Both the famous teddies and these eucalyptus-munchers were offered for a time on the second-generation Mazda 121—not the Ford Festiva sold here, but a successor we never got. The teddies seem to be known better in part because of their lengthy production run, with one Flickr user indicating they were available from Mazda as an option from 1991 to 1998. They've since become popular to retrofit on other cars (stance and show cars in particular), and have even been replicated in larger sizes.
The koalas meanwhile are said to have been an option for only a year or two, with a Czech Mazda club indicating 1993 while Reddit and forum posters point them being 1994-only. Hence, their relative lack of fame.
Unlike the teddies, these koala wheels were manufactured by Intra, a German company that seems to have gone defunct at some point. They share their 4x100 bolt pattern and 38-millimeter offset with the teddies, but are slightly smaller at 13 inches to the Ronals' 14. This appears to be a reasonably common size for Mazdas and Hondas, so there's a broad range of cars these could fit, if you're into this kind of thing.
However, the koalas seem to be a particularly rare set of wheels, with one set recently selling on eBay for over $1,700. There's another currently listed on Facebook Marketplace, though it may be a scam, as the set depicted was originally listed in 2021. It's a testament to the rarity of these wheels, and how hard it'll be to find one to go on your... I dunno, Rainforest Cafe-themed, slammed Civic hatch. Of course, if you find something that can fit them and that has adiesel, it means you can go rollin' koala. (Please tell me you get it. Please.)
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