Mazdaspeed traces its roots to 1967 when Takayoshi Ohashi, who also ran Mazda's Tokyo distributorship, founded a grassroots racing team called Mazda Sports Corner. The independent operation competed in events at home and abroad and became a regular entrant at Le Mans from the early 1980s, fielding the 717, 727, and 737 prototypes. Mazda brought the team to its Hiroshima headquarters in 1983, at which point the operation adopted the Mazdaspeed name.
Throughout the late 1980s Mazdaspeed developed a succession of Group C sports prototypes — the 767, 767B, 787, and 787B — all powered by variants of Mazda's four-rotor Wankel rotary engine. The R26B engine fitted to the 787B produced approximately 700 hp in Le Mans race trim. Ohashi remained central to the program as team manager; it was his decision to run the No. 55 787B on an aggressive strategy at the 1991 race rather than the usual conservative fuel-conservation approach, a call that proved decisive. The car, driven by Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler, and Bertrand Gachot, completed 362 laps to win outright, a feat not matched by another Japanese manufacturer until Toyota's victory in 2018.
Following the 1991 Le Mans win, regulatory changes outlawed non-3.5-litre reciprocating engines in Group C's top class, ending Mazdaspeed's prototype racing program in that formula. The team continued to campaign rotary-powered cars at Le Mans in smaller classes through 1999. Mazdaspeed also prepared the Mazda Lantis and Familia for the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) between 1994 and 1996.
After Mazda Motor Corporation assumed direct control of Mazdaspeed in 1999, the division evolved into a tuning and performance-parts arm producing factory-approved accessories for road cars including the MX-5 (NA and NB generations), RX-7 (FC and FD), 626, Familia, MX-3, and others. A range of limited-production touring kits — sold as A-Spec, B-Spec, C-Spec and similar designations — offered varying exterior and performance upgrades.
From 2003 Mazdaspeed began offering performance-oriented production-model variants for retail sale. The first was the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protegé, sold in North America, which used a T25 Callaway-Garrett turbocharger and intercooler to raise output from 140 bhp to 170 bhp. A Japanese-market Mazdaspeed Familia used a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engine with revised camshafts producing 173 hp.
In 2004 the Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata followed, turbocharged via an IHI single-scroll unit boosting power from 142 bhp to 178 bhp. The 2006 Mazdaspeed6 became the most powerful piston-engined Mazda road car at the time, producing 274 bhp with an all-wheel drive layout. The Mazdaspeed3, introduced for the 2007 model year and updated in 2010, was rated at 263 bhp and 280 lb⋅ft of torque, making it one of the most powerful hot hatches in its class. The Mazdaspeed3 was the last production model to carry the name; Mazda did not offer a Mazdaspeed trim after the 2013 model year.
From 2005 Mazdaspeed sponsored a North American driver development ladder. The sports car branch, Road to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, offered winners of the Global MX-5 Cup Spec Miata series progression through the Prototype Lites series and into the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, with potential for IMSA WeatherTech United Sports Car Championship opportunities. A parallel single-seater ladder, Road to Indy, connected the US F2000 Championship through Pro Mazda and Indy Lights to the IndyCar Series. Mazda discontinued its participation in the Road to Indy in 2018, redirecting focus to its IMSA prototype program and grassroots initiatives under the Global MX-5 Cup.
Mazdaspeed's lasting significance in motorsport rests primarily on the 1991 Le Mans victory, achieved with a car that embodied Mazda's long commitment to the Wankel rotary engine. The win remained the only Le Mans overall victory by a Japanese manufacturer for 27 years and the only one ever achieved with a rotary engine. Mazdaspeed also represented an uncommon model in motorsport of the era — a grassroots racing operation that grew into a manufacturer-backed program without losing its original identity until formal corporate integration in 1999.