Mazdaspeed began in 1967 as "Mazda Sports Corner," an independent racing team and tuning operation run by Takayoshi Ohashi, who also managed Mazda's Tokyo distribution business. The team competed in numerous events at home and abroad. At Le Mans in the early 1980s, Mazdaspeed entered rotary-engined sports prototypes including the 717, 727, and 737. Mazda brought the racing team to Hiroshima in 1983 and the name became Mazdaspeed. Between 1994 and 1996, Mazdaspeed also prepared the Lantis and Familia for the Japanese Touring Car Championship.
The pinnacle of Mazdaspeed's competition history came at the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the Mazda 787B powered by a four-rotor 26B engine won the race outright. It was and remained for decades the only victory for a Japanese manufacturer at Le Mans and the only overall Le Mans win by a rotary-engined car.
Under Mazda branding, a driver development programme called the Road to Indy was established offering series winners a pathway through US F2000, Pro Mazda, and Indy Lights to the IndyCar Series. A parallel sports car programme, Road to the Rolex 24, advanced winners through the Global MX-5 Cup, Prototype Lites, and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Mazda discontinued its participation in the Road to Indy ladder in 2018 to focus on IMSA sports car prototype competition and grassroots programmes including the Global MX-5 Cup.
After Mazda Corporation assumed control in 1999, Mazdaspeed began offering consumer performance vehicles in 2003. The first was the Mazdaspeed Protege, released to the North American market with a T25 Callaway-Garrett turbocharged engine producing 170 bhp, up from the standard MP3's 140 bhp. In 2004, the Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata followed with an IHI single-scroll turbocharger raising output from 142 bhp to 178 bhp. The range expanded globally from that point.
The Mazdaspeed6 arrived in 2006 with the most powerful piston engine Mazda had produced at 274 bhp, paired with all-wheel drive. The Mazdaspeed3 debuted for the 2007 model year with 263 bhp and 280 lb-ft of torque from a 2.3-litre DISI turbocharged engine, making it the most powerful vehicle in its class. A second-generation Mazdaspeed3 launched in 2010 carried the same powertrain in a restyled body. The last Mazdaspeed consumer vehicle was the 2013 Mazdaspeed3; Mazda subsequently phased out the performance sub-brand and has not offered a Mazdaspeed trim since.
Mazdaspeed produced factory-approved performance parts for a wide range of Mazda models including the MX-5 (NA and NB generations), RX-7 (FC and FD), 626/Capella, Familia/323/Lantis, MX-3, MX-6, and others. Particularly notable were limited-production touring conversion kits badged A-Spec, B-Spec, C-Spec, and so on, each offering distinct exterior and performance modifications. Nismo-equivalent tuning packages were sold through Mazda dealerships in Japan and internationally.