The Mazdaspeed story traces its origin back to the late 1960s, when a racing team run by the Mazda Auto Tokyo dealership caught the attention of Mazda corporate. The team's growing reputation on the track (including the first Japanese car win at the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1974) drew in more support from Mazda, until the manufacturer took on Mazdaspeed as a sub brand in 1983. Mazda applied its racing knowledge to select production cars, starting with the limited edition Protegé in 2002, giving them the Mazdaspeed badge and tuner delights such as boosted horsepower, better handling, and improved suspension.
The manufacturer also sold Mazdaspeed parts and accessories gearheads could use to tune and trick out their vehicles. It helped build the racing team's brand recognition and Mazda brand loyalty by giving fans a piece of the action. After only building a few Mazdaspeed editions, Mazda stopped producing the sub-brand by 2013.
Let's look at which models got the track-inspired makeover, and why you won't find any new ones on the showroom floor. In late 2002, Mazda unleashed a turbocharged Mazdaspeed Protegé in the U.S.
and Canada, making it the first non-race car to carry the badge. The Protegé was a FWD, 4-door sedan Mazda had been manufacturing since 1990, with a 2.0 L in-line 4 that pushed out 130 hp.
Going Mazdaspeed added about $3,000 to the starting MSRP, as well as an inter-cooled Garrett T25 turbocharger that brought 40 more hp to the party. This Protegé got beefe.