60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes

Mazda is celebrating 100 years this year and the Japanese firm has come a long way since its first car, the R360 which was launched in 1960. Since then it has gone on to release an impressive range of stylish coupe models, each one employing a unique style and an innovative, if somewhat unconventional engineering approach that has become a signature of Mazda. Let’s take a look at some of the groundbreaking Mazda Coupes that it has created over the past 60 years.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The compact and very cute rear engine Mazda R360

The Japanese carmaker has been setting coupe benchmarks since the beginning. Its very first passenger car was a coupe. Practical and affordable, the two door, 2.96m-long Mazda R360 was also stylish and, as the lightest vehicle in its class, fun to drive. The winning combination made it an immediate bestseller, capturing 65 per cent of Japan’s burgeoning microcar (“kei” car) segment and 15% of the domestic market in 1960, the year of its launch.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The larger Mazda Carol P360 coupe

The Mazda Carol P360 coupe, which had a longer wheelbase and a four-cylinder engine, joined the line-up in 1962 with comparable success.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The iconic Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S

Mazda’s first performance car was also a coupe, unveiled at the 1964 Tokyo Motor Show, the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S would arrive on the market in 1967 as the world’s first production model with a twin-rotor engine. With space-age looks matched by the powertrain’s turbine-like sound, it was the beginning of an illustrious age of unconventional rotary sports coupes at Mazda. The Cosmo Sport also launched the brand’s international motorsport career.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The Italian styled Mazda Familia Coupe was launched in 1965
60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The R100 from 1968

However, the big international sales breakthrough would come with the Familia/R100 and Capella/616/RX-2 series – the respective forerunners to the Mazda3 and Mazda6 – along with the Grand Familia/818/RX-3.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The RX2 Coupe continued the European inspired style
60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
With the RX3 showing a more North American influence



Mazda took its rotary engine global with these models starting in 1968, and their Italo-design inspired looks electrified buyers, quickly driving overseas unit sales into six-figures.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The Luce R130 coupe continued the Italian styling trend

Even more stunning was the Mazda Luce R130 coupe introduced in 1969. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone (who had also styled the first Familia), it was Mazda’s only front wheel-driven rotary model and is now a sought-after collector’s item. Slotted above the RX-2 and RX-3, the Luce R130 would make way in 1972 for the Mazda RX-4.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The Mazda RX-4 saw a shift towards a more American muscle car inspired design

Marketed as luxurious and sporty, the hardtop coupe version was available with an “AP” (anti-pollution) rotary that improved emissions and fuel economy. The engine would also see service on the RX-3 and Mazda Cosmo/RX-5 launched in 1975 in coupe and fastback format. Performance of the 110-135PS rotary RX coupes, with kerb weights in the 900-1,100kg range, was very respectable for the time.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The 1st generation RX7 broke new ground for the rotary powered sports car

The Hiroshima carmaker took this recipe for driving fun up a level in 1978 with the Mazda RX-7, whose unique wedge-shaped design featured a wraparound glass rear window. Under the bonnet of Mazda’s first truly mass-market sports car was a completely redesigned rotary engine.



Propelling a lightweight structure with near-perfect weight distribution, it was exceptional to drive. Successful on the racetrack and rally stage, the RX-7 developed over three model generations into a high-performance twin-turbocharged super-coupé on par with the best the competition had to offer. With some 811,000 produced, the RX-7 remains the most popular rotary powered car in history.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The luxury Eunos Cosmo coupe was unique in having a triple-rotor engine

Less well known is the Eunos Cosmo, a Japan-only luxury sports coupe built from 1990 until 1995. It was the only production model with a three-rotor engine; the 300PS twin-turbo “20B-REW” was also the largest-ever production rotary. The Cosmo introduced many new cutting-edge technologies, like the first built-in GPS navigation system and a touchscreen display.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The quirky Autozam AZ-1 kei car

Another domestic market model, the Autozam AZ-1, was remarkable in its own way. Weighing only 720kg, the exciting mid-engined kei coupe developed under Toshihiko Hira, MX-5 programme manager, had gullwing doors and a 9,000rpm redline – in a segment personified by utilitarian “boxes on wheels”.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The 2+2 Mazda 929 coupe

The GPBox Vintage Car Memorabilia Collection

This was typical Mazda, always seeking new ways of making its coupes look and feel special. The Mazda 929 coupe (1982-86), with its lowerable opera windows in the B-pillar, is yet another example.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The MX-6 introduced 4 wheel steer to a Mazda model for the first time

The stylish Mazda MX-6 (1987-97), meanwhile, had optional four-wheel steering. And the compact Mazda MX-3 (1992-98) was available with the 1.8-litre K8 engine, the world’s smallest mass-production V6.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The Mazda 323F turned the coupe concept into a practical 5 door hatchback

Even back in those days, Mazda dabbled in crossover designs, widely considered a 21st-century phenomena. The Mazda 323F (1989-98) made a family friendly five-seater out of a wedge-shaped sports coupe with pop-up headlights, while the Mazda Xedos 6 (1992-99) walked the line between luxury coupe and mid-sized saloon.



60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The RX-8 marked the return of the rotary engine coupe

And the Mazda RX-8 (2003-12), a two-row “quad coupé” with freestyle doors yet, again demonstrated the company’s sophistication when it came to refreshing coupe design.

60 Years of groundbreaking Mazda Coupes
The “RF” has completely transformed the hugely popular MX-5 convertible

Sixty years on, Mazda continues to push design convention and re-imagine the sports coupe concept with models like the stunning Mazda MX-5 RF. The “Retractable Fastback”, a one-of-a-kind power hardtop design, gives the world’s most popular roadster the comfort of an enclosed cabin, combining the best of the open top convertible and sports coupe experience.

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