- 1,115
- Rivera
- Tsukishima-TDUDT
The Mazda Grand Familia, as it was known in Japan, was sold as the Mazda 808 in some export markets including Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and Mazda 818 in many others (presumably due to the usage of numbers with a middle zero by Peugeot for its automotive models). The body style configurations offered were a two-door coupé, a four-door sedan, and a five-door station wagon. The Grand Familia offered only inline four cylinder engines. In Japan, the largely identical rotary-powered versions were marketed as the Mazda Savanna, with export markets taking this model as the Mazda RX-3.
In late 1973, Mazda released the Series S124 in Japan. Externally the entire front end sheet metal was revamped and a different set of taillights with twin brake lights were included (commonly known as Savanna tail lights in Australia). The Series 2 RX-3 hit Australia in March of 1974 powered by the 12A single distributor (12B). Earlier 12A engines featured dual distributors. The starter motor was also relocated in the later engines from the top of the engine to the left hand rear side. Other internal 12A changes included moving from dual row side seals to single row and significant changes to apex seal design. The Series 2 was slower than the 10A series 1 down the quarter mile even with the 1,146 cc 12A's greater capacity and 15 percent more power. The Rotary Engine Anti Pollution System (REAPS) hurt torque. As a result, the Series 2 was slow off the mark but had a better top speed. The loss of torque plus a 44-kilo weight increase slowed the series 2 to a 17.8 second quarter mile. Additional exterior colors for the Series 2 like Bottle Green and Alexandria gold added appeal. Interior changes were minor and included a change from the km/h/mph speedometer to a 200 km/h speedometer (180 km/h for the 808), an exhaust overhead light, a 50 Amp ammeter (up from 30 Amps) plus design changes to the trims and seat belts. Notably the radio antenna was enhanced by a twin post (rather than single) design. The 1974 model kept the three spoke plastic wood grain steering wheel; the 1975 received a fake leather wheel with slots cut into its three spokes.
12A Engine output was 130 hp and 115 lb·ft (156 Nm). 0–100 km/h time was 10.8 seconds, and the car ran a 17.7 second quarter-mile (400 m).
The Savanna was updated in June 1973 for 1974. Mazda put the new 12A "AP" single-distributor engine in the RX-3. The body was also updated. It was refreshed again in 1975 with a "REAPS-5" engine.
In 1976 the Series 3 RX-3 was released in US and Japan but not Australia or New Zealand. There weren't as many changes this time around, but the few made were significant. The nose cone wore a new lower spoiler-type lip, the gimmick rotor badges were replaced with a simple Mazda badge on the grille. The RX-3 was finally dropped in 1978 to make room for the new Mazda RX-7.
Of all the pre-RX-7 rotary vehicles Mazda built (930,000 in total), the RX-3 was by far the most popular.
