The Mazda RX-8

Rotary-engined coupés have featured in Mazda’s product line-up on and off for nearly 40 years. The first, the strangely styled Cosmo 110S, is little known in the UK, but something of a cult car in Japan. The original 1978 RX-7 is the best-known rotary Mazda. A rival for the contemporary Porsche 924, the coupé proved a massive hit particularly in the USA, despite premature engine wear and high fuel consumption. Two further generations of RX-7 followed, the last of which sold in tiny numbers and bowed out of British showrooms in 1997.