The top 100 Mazdas (100-91)

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of Mazda Motor Corporation and to celebrate the Japanese carmaker's centennial anniversary, it's time to jot down the top 100 Mazdas ever made, from production cars, concept cars, new cars, old cars, Japanese ones, overseas-only ones, relatives, everything Mazda that made an impact over the last 100 years.

Mazda 100th anniversary

In this first installment of the big list celebrating 100 years of Mazda, let's jot down only numbers 100 to 91 on the list. Ready, go!

100) Prototype Passenger Car - Following their success of their three-wheelers, Mazda begins plans for the production of four-wheeled vehicles. They've created a prototype vehicle in 1940 but never saw the light of day in the wake of the Second World War.

99) CA truck - Launched in 1950, the Mazda CA 1-ton truck uses a V2 OHV engine.

98) Parkway Rotary 26 - Launched in 1974, Mazda created the world's first rotary bus powered by a 13B rotary engine which provides this 26-seater bus low levels of noise and vibration as well as cleaner emissions in the heyday of the global oil crisis.

97) Mazda Carol 360 - The Carol 360, launched in 1962, features the first water-cooled four cylinder engine used in a kei car. It utilized a cliff-cut style vertical rear window to accomodate the seating conditions of the rear seats.

96) FMC Anfra - Why include the long-forgotten Filipino vehicle called the FMC Anfra on the list of Mazdas? Simple really, the Francisco Motors Anfra APV, launched in the mid-90's up to the early 2000's, is basically a Mazda underneath and the 4D engine that powers it comes from, you guessed it, Mazda. They made a Popemobile version of it for Blessed John Paul II's Philippine visit in 1995. It's even the fleet vehicle of choice for PLDT back in the 90's.

95) First-generation Mazda Titan - The first-generation Mazda Titan truck was launched in 1971 and it's powered by a 2.0L 4-cylinder VA engine producing 92ps of power. It gained a facelift in 1977 and gained a 3.0L diesel engine producing 86ps of power.

94) R16A Prototype - Mazda opened the Miyoshi Proving Ground in 1965 to test their cars' high speed durability and served as the testbed for rotary-powered vehicles. They've drove a rotary-powered R16A Prototype, a 4-rotor rotary-powered test car, through the Miyoshi Proving Ground.

93) The first motorcycle - Since renaming to Toyo Manufacturing in 1921, they've launched their first motorcycle in 1930. Their first motorcycle is powered by a 2-stroke 250cc engine and about 30 units were sold.

92) Mazda R360 Coupe - The R360 Coupe, launched in 1960, is the first four-seater kei passenger car, which weighs only 838lbs and priced at 300,000 Yen when new.

91) Mazda Type DA - The early years of Mazda began when Toyo Cork Manufacturing, founded in 1920, was renamed to Toyo Manufacturing, and shifted focus to manufacturing starting with their two-stroke 250cc motorcycle in 1930 and then a year later, a three-wheeled Type DA Mazda, signalling the genesis of Mazda's history as an automobile manufacturer. The Mazda Type DA is powered bya 485cc engine capable of carrying up to 441lbs of cargo. It took part in the 1934 Hiroshima Shokon Festival Race and won.

...next time, let's jot down numbers 90 to 81 on the list of the top 100 Mazdas. Check back soon!