Not all of Mazda’s most underrated motors are rotary engines, and one of its most under-the-radar models was graced with a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder that turned this car into a rally racing monster. Mazda introduced the 323 in 1977 as the Familia in Japan and the GLC (Great Little Car) in North America. Cheesy name aside, the 323 was a quick success worldwide despite the biggest initial engine offering being just 1,272 cc. In 1978, a 1,415 cc engine was added to the option list, and by the end of 1979, Mazda had sold nearly 900,000 323s.
The coolest 323 didn’t arrive in North America until 1988, though. That was the 323 GTX, a rare all-wheel-drive version of the compact that helped birth the hot hatch revolution. In its otherwise demure front end sat a turbocharged version of the 1.6 liter inline four that would later go in the debut edition of the Miata, which hit dealerships as a 1990 model.
The Miata’s naturally aspirated engine made 116 horsepower and just 100 pound-feet of torque, but the boosted version in the 323 GTX produced 132 horses and 136 pound-feet. Microchip tweaks and turbo upgrades could up those numbers even further, and rally racer Jeff Zurschmeide told Hagerty, “It’s an absolute hoot to drive.” Mazda made just 1,243 copies of the 323 GTX in 1988 and ’89, and the proliferation of higher horsepower hot hatch models in the years that followed left this fun-loving beast in the dust.
