101 years ago, in the Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, a new automaker arose. The Mazda Motor Corporation was founded by Jujiro Matsuda, and the company, like a lot of other automakers, tackled a different niche before they dipped their toes in the automotive industry; they used to make corks.
Nowadays, Mazda is a huge global automaker, with some seriously impressive sports car models over the years, and especially nowadays as they prepare to enter the premium segment, not to mention their great efforts to keep the internal combustion engine alive and going. Over the past century, they have built some truly iconic cars.
9 Cosmo 110S
Also known as the Cosmo Sports, the original car was launched in 1965, and it was the halo car in Mazda's lineup. Although it was called a Mazda everywhere else in the world, it was sold under the brand's luxury alias, Eunos, in their homeland of Japan.
The most notable thing about the Cosmo, obviously, is that it was the first production Mazda model to use the Wankel rotary engine, something that would become a staple of a lot of future Mazda models. In the Cosmo, it was a 1.0 liter unit with two rotors and either 110 or 130 hp, as well as the glorious buzzing howl associated with rotary engines.
8 RX-7 (FD)
Mazda continued to build rotary-powered sports cars throughout the 20th century, and well into the 21st as well. Possibly their most well-known rotary sports car effort was the FD generation RX-7, sold from 1992 to 2002.
As well as looking and driving like a dream, the FD RX-7 improved on the rotary formula. It used a 1.3-liter unit, known as the 13B-REW. The engine produced anywhere from 236 hp to 261 hp, and could be paired to an automatic, or more fittingly, a manual transmission. It also had the novel sequential twin-turbo system, and despite the rather disastrous reliability record, very well kept FD RX-7s are worth pretty serious money.
7 787B
Although it may be hard to believe, Mazda used to compete at the 24h of LeMans. Not just with a beefed-up RX-7 or something similar, they had their own custom-built Group C prototypes. The 767 enjoyed some success, but the 787B is the most notable one.
This was the car that brought Mazda the victory at the 1991 24h of LeMans. To this day, it remains the only rotary-powered car ever to win the championship. It is also widely agreed to be one of the best-sounding cars ever, production or not, thanks to the custom-built rotary engine, which when dialed in, could produce 900 hp.
6 Mazdaspeed3/Mazda3 MPS
Although Mazda tried to capture some of the charm with the new 3 Turbo, the original Mazdaspeed 3 was a fantastic hot hatchback. Known overseas as the Mazda3 MPS, it showed the world that Mazda hadn't forgotten about performance cars, and this car was a serious contender to the likes of the Golf GTI and the Renault Megane RS.
It also quenched the thirst for hot hatchbacks in the US market, and at the time, there really weren't any other similar cars on the continent. The 2.3-liter turbo-four under the hood made 263 hp, sent to the front wheels through a mandatory 6-speed manual, a GKN LSD, Volvo brakes (yes, really), and retuned suspension. The best part is, these are a bargain nowadays.
5 RX-7 (FC)
With the FD being the darling of Mazda's sports car family, the FC RX-7 always seems to be in the shadows. Even though it's not the favorite among rotary fans, it was still a fantastic sports car.
As a direct result of being sold in the 1980s, the FC has a more charming boxy design instead of the curvy FD. Under the hood is a rotary engine, of course, which was available with turbocharging for the first time in the FC, although an NA unit was standard. Thanks to the FD's fame, the FC is surprisingly cheap on the used market, if you're willing to take the risks of a used rotary.
4 Mazdaspeed6/Mazda6 MPS
As well as the original Mazdaspeed3/Mazda3 MPS, the brand also offered a souped-up version of the Mazda6 sedan. Facing competition from cars like the Acura TL Type-S and, to a lesser extent, the VW Jetta GLI, as well as the Ford Mondeo ST220 in Europe, the 6 MPS was a seriously impressive car.
The same 2.3-liter turbo four-cylinder was under the hood, with the same 263 hp, although the 6 ditched the smaller 3's FWD for a complex AWD system, allowing for more stability and some AWD powerslides if you fiddle with the stability control, although power is usually split evenly between the axles. This car really is a rocketship, and it's better than the very rare V6 model. Not to mention, it has also become a bargain.
3 Miata/MX-5/Roadster (NA)
The MX-5 Miata is the best-selling roadster of all time, and it totally revolutionized the car market when it arrived in 1989. The original Mazda Miata, also known as the MX-5 and the Roadster elsewhere in the world, was a huge, smashing success, and one of the Internet's favorite cars to praise.
The main reason for the Miata's success was that it offered everything that made classic British sports cars good, but with a (huge) added dose of reliability. It was also affordable, cheap to fix, and simple. Now in its fourth generation, Mazda hasn't really changed the formula, and it's still a fabulous sports car in so many ways.
2 Savanna/RX-3/Grand Familia
While the RX sports cars are the most well-known application of the rotary engine, the truth is, Mazda used the novel powertrain on many of their other cars, including compacts. Arguably the most well-known one is the Savanna, or the RX-3, or the Grand Familia, depending on the market.
Launched in 1971 to compete with the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, the Savanna never really enjoyed as much success as those two. It did, however, enjoy a lot of success at the race track, as a Savanna race car managed to win its debut race at the 1971 Fuji 500.
1 323/Familia GT-R
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Group A rallying was a big thing, especially since the incredible Group B class was canceled a few years prior. Quite a few automakers joined the party, including Mazda with the otherwise forgettable 323 hatchback.
Homologation rules required Mazda to produce a road-going version of the race car, resulting in the 323/Familia GT-R. The 1.8 liter 4-cylinder engine produced a huge (for an early 90s compact) 210 hp, paired to a 5-speed manual transmission. Although not many people remember it, it definitely joins the ranks as one of the coolest hot hatchbacks ever.