Mazda RX-3
The Mazda RX-3 is where the rotary engine really got into its stride. Launched in September 1971 and arriving on UK shores in 1972, the RX-3, known as the Savanna in its native Japan, used a 982cc 10A rotary engine (US cars had a more powerful 1,146cc 12A rotary) and could hit 60mph in 10.2 seconds. Front-engined and rear-wheel-drive, it was fun, well balanced and, thanks to a choice of coupe, saloon and later estate body styles, popular.
Confusingly, there were piston-engined versions of the RX-3, named the Grand Familia in Japan, the 808 in the USA and, because Peugeot owns the rights to car names with a zero in the middle, the 818 in Europe.
Sadly the estate was dropped from the UK in 1974, and by 1976 the RX-3 was gone altogether. But its success can be seen by comparing it to the four-cylinder 818 as, in 1973, the UK importer for Mazda sold three times as many RX-3s even though it came with a £335 premium, a significant amount when the total price was £1,663. It was also the car that brought rotary power to the masses, as while just 1,176 Cosmos left the factory gates more than 286,757 RX-3 were built. Oh, and it was quite a successful racer, too, with more 100 wins in races across Japan plus a victory in class at the 1975 Bathurst 1000 and a third in class at the Daytona 24 the same year, with only Porsches and Ferraris ahead.