The little turbocharged Mazda 323 GTX that helped kick off the hot hatchback market slipped into the U.S. market almost under the radar, selling less than 1,300 units here. The GTX was introduced to the U.S. in 1988, and only sold for one more year before disappearing from Mazda’s lineup, and was a car that rally enthusiasts in the States discovered too little, too late.
The GTX emerged from a line of economy hatchbacks and sedans known as Familia in Japan, and as the 2-wheel drive compact Mazda 323 in the U.S. In the late 1980s, Mazda was looking for its place on the rally car stage and designed the 323 GTX for Group A class racing. To meet homologation rules, a production version of the race car needed to be available, and what hit these shores in 1988 was one of Mazda’s best cars — an AWD, turbocharged 1.6L hatchback literally built to rally out of the box.
