10 Rarest Mazdas Ever Built

Jun 12, 2023

With a storied history and a lot of hits and misses, the Mazda brand has made some truly unique cars in its lifetime and these are some of the rarest

For a company whose name is derived from the “God of Harmony”, Mazda is an automaker that was never afraid to experiment and produce something out of the ordinary. There was even a time when the company slogan was “the most creative car company”. But from its humble beginnings building three-wheeled trucks dubbed the Mazda Go, to eventually building their first passenger four-wheeled vehicle, the R360 City-Coupe, Mazda has sewn itself an interesting history.

Because of their stubborn dedication to rotary engines that goes back to the Wankel cars of the long defunct NSU Motorenwerke, Mazda has become synonymous with the rotary engine it had been so committed to and along with that, gained a reputation for building cars that are fun to drive.

But like with any other innovator in any other industry, there were bumps along the road to success. In the case of Mazda, the majority of those come in the way of explored and abandoned engineering ideas that naturally limit production numbers.

And in some cases stellar successes from ideas that paid off handsomely. As the automaker matured, their cars have matured with them, fortunately, while maintaining their character of “fun” and leaving a trail of obscure and unique cars produced in very limited numbers. Here are ten of those rare, obscure, and unique production cars from Mazda’s interesting history.

We've gatherd data from Mazda and several trustworthy sites like Hotcars, MotorTrend, and TopGear; to put this list together on the rarest Mazda cars.

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Introduced in November 1962, the Carol P600 is a rear-engine, rear-wheel drive micro sedan. Named after the word that describes “a joyful song”, the design of the micro-mini car was the same as the Carol 360 with its heavily curved roofline that made headroom for four adults in its four-door configuration. With a bigger displacement, the P600 made two horsepower more and, more significantly, 15-pound feet more torque than the smaller displacement version.

Engine

586-cubic centimeter, water-cooled, four-stroke, four-cylinder all aluminum engine

Power

20 horsepower

Torque

30 pound feet

Transmission

Four-speed manual; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

8,800 units

Starting a tradition of innovation within the company, the Carol featured four-wheel independent suspension and four doors which were both unavailable from any other micro-mini cars of the time. Introduced later than the Carol P360, the P600 was seized from production with only 8,800 units ever made. But importantly, a Carol P600 was the millionth car to roll off Mazda’s production line, and fittingly finished in metallic gold.

The 1990s and the number 2,500 always prompt images of compact cars speeding through the tight tree-lined forest roads of Rally Finland or the dusty and sandy desert-like landscape of Rally Australia. The Mazda 323 GTR/GTX was built for exactly that; to satisfy the same Group A homologation numbers as the Mitsubishi EVOs and Toyota Celica four-wheel drive rockets that likewise competed in rally events worldwide.

Engine

Turbocharged 1.8-liter, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder engine

Power

185 horsepower

Torque

177 pound feet

Transmission

Five-speed manual; all-wheel drive

Production Numbers

2,500 units

Powered by a turbocharged 1.8-liter version of the four-cylinder engine in the regular 323, coupled with a viscous coupling all-wheel drive system to maximize grip across all surfaces and terrains, the 323 GTR accelerated to sixty in a quick-for-its-time 7.4-seconds. It found reasonable success in the SCCA Pro Rally Championship driven by Rod Millen. But it seemed the Japanese automaker was only interested in meeting the homologation requirement, which is why the 323 GTR makes it to this list.

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After the retirement of the “RX-7” nameplate in 2002, Mazda introduced the RX-8 the following year still powered by their beloved rotary engine but heavily revised version of the 13B engine from the RX-7. Named the Renesis engine, it did away with the turbochargers and remained naturally aspirated, while producing similar power to the turbocharged 7s that it followed.

Engine

1.3-liter, twin-rotor, naturally aspirated Wankel engine

Power

232 horsepower

Torque

159 pound feet

Transmission

Six-speed manual / six-speed automatic; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

1,000

In 2008, Mazda released a limited edition version of the RX-8 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its rotary engine. Available only in 2008 as the Japanese Type S six-speed manual or in Type E using Mazda’s six-speed automatic transmission, numbers were limited to 1,000 units for the U.S. market. It also featured a unique interior package pairing black leather and light silver leather Alcantara fabric that is meant to tie its heritage to the 1967 Cosmo Sport. Other changes on the RX-8 40th Anniversary were Bilstein suspension and a foam-filled front cross-member to improve ride quality and handling.

Designed by the Italian industrial design house Bertone, the Luce R130, as it is sometimes called, is arguably more beautiful than the more popular Cosmo Sport. Where the Cosmo Sport pushed the design boundaries of the time, the traditional coupe proportions and classic lines of the Luce Rotary Coupe gave it a matured and elegant posture. Its hard-top pillarless coupe design is similar to the coupes built by Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar during that the period.

Engine

1.3-liter, twin-rotor naturally aspirated Wankel engine

Power

127 horsepower

Torque

127 pound feet

Transmission

Four-speed manual; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

Less than 1,000 units

Beautiful as it is deceptive, the Luce Coupe is the only car Mazda produced with a rotary front-engine, front-wheel drive. Using the compact rotary engine to avail more space for its occupants, the Luce Coupe was also luxurious and fast for its time. Powered by a 1.3-liter naturally aspirated rotary engine, the Luce Coupe hit a top speed of 120 MPH. With a price of around $40,000 dollars in today’s money, the Luce Rotary Coupe was nicknamed “Lord of the Road” and was considered a luxury car in its time.

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Even with such small production numbers, it is easy to see why the Mazda Roadpacer is easily forgettable. Actually, an Australian Holden Premier powered by their 13B rotary engine, the Roadpacer is one of the abandoned engineering ideas previously mentioned. Intended as a contender against the likes of the Toyota Century, Nissan President, and Mitsubishi Debonair, Mazda imported the Australian sedans without their engines and drivetrains and outfitted them with their notoriously torque-less rotary engine.

Engine

1.3-liter, twin-rotor, naturally aspirated, Wankel engine

Power

130 horsepower

Torque

102 pound feet

Transmission

Three-speed automatic; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

800 units

Further suffering from the additional weight from the luxury features that Mazda installed like thicker padded seats, speed-sensitive central-locking doors, and a dictation machine, the Roadpacer was heavy, weighing over 3,500 pounds. This formula definitely meant bad fuel economy, returning around 9 MPG. The bad fuel consumption, along with the discovery that it was often too wide for Japanese roads, meant Mazda had to prematurely pull the plug.

To begin with, the Mazda pick-up, or REPU as enthusiasts call it, is quite rare for a mass-produced utility vehicle, with Mazda only making 15,000 units in its three-year production from 1974 to 1977, but in tow-truck configuration is even rarer. With only 600 units built for the U.S. and Canadian markets, Mazda’s rotary pick-up is definitely rare and obscure.

Engine

1.3-liter, twin-rotor, naturally aspirated Wankel engine

Power

110 horsepower

Torque

117 pound feet

Transmission

Four-speed manual; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

600 units

The REPU is the first and only rotary-powered pick-up ever to be made. Even if the rotary engine in the REPU only made 110 horsepower, the pick-up was relatively quick in its time, for what it was. Its 8.9-second sprint to sixty was mostly due to its light curb weight, at only 2,800 pounds. Although as light as it was, Mazda rated its rotary pick-up for a remarkable 1,350 payload capacity. Although it was initially tested by the EPA to return only 10 MPG, further testing showed it could easily manage 12-13 MPG which was actually better than the other Mazdas sold at the time.

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The Cosmo Sport is significant to Mazda’s history in more ways than one. It is the manufacturer’s first rotary-powered car as well as their first sports car. Both a long synonymous with Mazda to this day. Mazda had successfully developed what was considered novel technology and debuted their results in an all-new sports car. Very evidently inspired by futuristic designs, the Cosmo Sport was unlike any other car on the market in its day.

Engine

982-cubic centimeter twin-rotor, naturally aspirated Wankel engine

Power

108 horsepower

Torque

105 pound feet

Transmission

Four-speed manual; front-wheel drive

Production numbers

343 units

Powered by two 491-cubic centimeter rotary engine capacity, the Cosmo Sport managed a 115 MPH top speed and accelerated to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds. Not only was the Cosmo a testament that rotary engines were a viable engine technology, but it also proved that it could perform just as well and in some areas even better than conventional piston engines. The Cosmo Sport was produced in two batches, the first batch being slightly shorter. Only 343 units were made before the shift to a longer wheelbase.

Mazda has teased a coupe version of its successful roadster since its first generation. But it was in 2003, and in its second generation, that Mazda actually pulled the trigger on producing a production coupe version of the MX-5 Miata. And being fair, the NB generation “Roadster Coupe” as Mazda called it is an enticing proposition which all the more adds insult to the injury of the very limited numbers that Mazda made of the unique coupe.

Engine

1.6 or 1.8-liter, 16-valve, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder engine

Power

110 / 142 horsepower

Torque

99 / 125 pound feet

Transmission

Five-speed / six-speed manual or four-speed automatic; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

179 units

For such small production numbers and what is a simple sports car, the Roadster Coupe was offered in as many as four trim levels when it went on sale in Japan. The standard trim, Type-S, Type-A, and Type-E, the standard offered a 1.6-liter, five-speed manual while the Type E was a four-speed automatic. The more popular choices were the Type-S and -A which came as 1.8-liter, six-speed manual versions. Totaling just 179 units, the Roadster Coupe is somewhat of a unicorn among Mazda enthusiasts.

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With a car so basic and simple, special examples of MX-5 Miatas are often hard to tell from the standard ones. Except for the previous Miata in the list, many of them look the same with only minor visible changes because of the small sports car’s focus on “Jinba Ittai” or simply put, driver engagement. Arguably, the NB generation Club Sport is the ultimate expression of that mantra.

Engine

1.8-liter, 16-valve, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder engine

Power

142 horsepower

Torque

124 pound feet

Transmission

Five-speed manual; rear-wheel drive

Production numbers

50 units

Conceptualized in tandem with the SCCA, the Club Sport is a bare-bones Miata intended to be turned into an SCCA race car the moment it left the dealer lot. The Club Sport did away with features that were standard in regular Miatas in the interest of even lighter curb weight, like power-steering, air-conditioning, and its radio. Half of the fifty produced even got rid of their manual soft-tops and came with a removable hardtop instead. While it retained the 142-horsepower 1.8-liter engine and five-speed manual transmission, it gained a limited-slip differential and Bilstein suspension.

Despite being another one of Mazda’s explored and abandoned ideas, the Mazda Parkway 26 isn’t half bad. Some of the features on the Parkway were considered luxurious in Japan at the time like a soft fabric headliner, a radio, and heated seats; in a bus from the 1970s, it's hard to argue with that. Mazda’s decision to put their rotary engine into their minibus wasn’t entirely insane. It was a response to the worldwide concerns of pollution and inspired by the proof that their rotary engines were more environmentally friendly than conventional piston engines.

Engine

1.3-liter, twin-rotor, naturally aspirated, Wankel engine

Power

135 horsepower

Torque

132 pound feet

Transmission

Undetermined

Production numbers

44 units

The only problem with the Parkway 26 was a big one. The 13B rotary engine is notoriously thirsty and requires two, 70-liter fuel tanks to feed the tiny rotary engine. On top of the already glaring issue, when optioned with air-conditioning, the Parkway required a separate 1.0-liter engine to power the optioned air-conditioning system. The fuel tanks and motor for the air-conditioning added around 800 additional pounds to its curb weight, further penalizing its already unacceptable fuel consumption. So after just forty-four units, Mazda bailed on the idea making the Parkway Rotary 26, the rarest production Mazda.

Known as the classic car enthusiast, Jarro loves classic Porsches, Toyotas and everything in between. Although he used to manage a local speed shop and had a short stint with a race team, he now prefers a brisk therapeutic drive over the adrenaline of racing.