Aside from the Ford Probe/Mazda MX-6, the collaboration between the Blue Oval and the pride of Hiroshima didn’t produce much in the way of performance cars. But a little know rebadge effort did give Ford a 4WD, rally-derived pocket rocket.
As an attempt by Ford to break into the Japanese market, Ford leveraged their partnership with Mazda to build cars like the Laser and Telstar, which used Mazda mechanicals in an effort to build right-sized cars that would appeal to Japanese consumers. The Laser was also exported to select markets like Australia and New Zealand.
A performance trim, dubbed the TX3, was offered, featuring the Mazda B6 and BP twincam motors used in the Miata and hot versions of the 323. But the TX3 Turbo and Turbo 4WD were the real stars, offering the same running gear and performace as the Mazda 323 GTX. While they offered the B6T and BPT engines of our 323 GTX (and the JDM-only second generation, which used a 1.8L turbo mill), they also suffered from fragile drivelines and uncaring owners.
The Ford Laser TX3 is but a footnote in the canon of Japanese performance cars. Nevertheless, its an under-appreciated bright spot in an ultimately doomed partnership. The similarity between the two cars echoes the near identical nature of the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT86 – but pre-dated even Subaru’s own 4WD turbocharged efforts by a good 5-10 years.
The post Badge Engineering Gone Right: The Ford Laser TX3 appeared first on The Truth About Cars.
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