Mazdaspeed Protege

The Mazdaspeed Protege was Mazda's attempt to get back into the sport compact game after the stretch of time when nothing was turbocharged. The Mazdaspeed name was brought in house by Mazda Japan to give a face to the performance models Mazda was working towards for future models.

This Mazdaspeed Protege was only available in a sedan version with a 5 speed manual transmission. The Mazdaspeed Protege or MSP to the owners had a turbo kit installed at the port before delivery to the dealerships. The kit was designed for Mazda by Callaway.

As the MSP has gotten older the Mazdaspeed 3 has taken its place as the dominate performance front wheel drive model. CorkSport still has a place in our heart for the MSP and the classic design and idea behind it. Without this car the Mazdaspeed 3 and Mazdaspeed 6 would probably have never happened.