The Mazda 808 is the piston-engine twin of the rotary RX-3, sold in the U.S. from 1972 through 1977 with a 1.6-liter four, plus a 1.3-liter version called the Mizer for 1976-77. If you're shopping one in 2026, the two things that matter most are rust and whether the car is really what the seller says it is, because plenty of 808s have been dressed up to pass as RX-3s. A history report will tell you very little about a car this old, so plan on checking it in person.
On Oct. 20, 2026 I read MotorTrend's Mazda history roundup, Mazda's own corporate timeline, two Curbside Classic owner stories, a vintage Road & Track test reprinted by Curbside, and an RX-3 buyer's guide from Retro Rides. I also ran NHTSA's recall lookup under 808, MIZER and RX-3 for every model year from 1971 to 1978.
What the 808 is (and is not)
Mazda's history page lists the Grand Familia, sold as the 808/818 and Mizer, launching in September 1971 alongside the Savanna, which export markets called the RX-3. MotorTrend says Americans got the car as the 808 from 1972 to 1977 with the 1.6-liter four, and the Mizer used a 1.3-liter four for 1976-77. The RX-3 used the 12A rotary in U.S. form. Same basic body, very different engine and very different money.
Early U.S. cars were coupes. Sedans and wagons joined for 1975, the same year emissions rules pulled output from about 70 hp to 64 hp, according to the model's reference entries. Transmissions were a four-speed manual or a three-speed automatic. Underneath it's simple: a live rear axle on leaf springs, as Dave Saunders noted in his Curbside Classic story about his 1973 coupe. He also wrote that the engine is close to the one in the same-era B-series pickups, which helps when you go hunting for parts.
How it drove when new
Don't buy an 808 expecting it to be quick. Road & Track's January 1975 test clocked 0-60 in 15.6 seconds and got 21 mpg, while Mazda claimed 30.5 mpg back then. R&T placed it between a Corolla and a Corona in size and price. The upside is that the piston engine doesn't need the apex-seal attention a rotary does. If you want the rotary experience on a budget, our used RX-7 guide is a better starting point, and the GLC guide covers the small Mazda that came after.
The RX-3 clone problem
This is where people lose money. Retro Rides warns RX-3 buyers to make sure they're getting a genuine RX-3 and not a cloned 808, with the correct 12A rotary. The same guide says 808 sedans have long been used as the base for four-door rotary "tributes," and that RX-3-only parts like the nose cone and triple-lens taillights are hard to find. Its valuation timeline (Australian market) has RX-3 coupes climbing from about $44,000 in 2014 to $155,000 in 2024, so the incentive to fake one is real.
So if an ad says RX-3, check the title, the VIN plate and the engine, and ask what the car was born as. If it's an honest 808 with a rotary swap, that's fine. Just pay 808-with-a-swap money, not RX-3 money. Curbside's owner story points out smaller tells too: the RX-3 had round taillights, rotary badges and different trim.
Rust, repairs and what to look at
Any 1970s Japanese economy car that lived through winters should be assumed rusty until you've seen the metal. Retro Rides flags poor repairs, including "front cut" jobs where the front of another car is grafted on from the windshield pillars forward, plus missing exhaust heat shields and oversize wheels that rub. Get the car on a lift. Look at the floors, sills, rear quarters and the front chassis rails. We've written about what reports can and can't tell you in does CARFAX show rust, and the short version is they mostly can't.
Interior trim matters more than you'd think, since replacement pieces are scarce. A car with a tired engine and a complete interior is often the better buy than the reverse.
Recalls I found
NHTSA's database is thin for these years, and the model naming is inconsistent. Under MAZDA 808 I got two results:
- 72V044000 (1972 sedans): the shoulder belt anchorage was installed in the wrong spot and had to be relocated to meet the federal standard.
- 76V126000 (1976 wagons, 1600 and 1300): piping for a "check and cut valve" in the fuel system may have been installed wrong and failed to meet the fuel system integrity standard.
MIZER and RX-3 returned nothing for any year I tried. Fifty-year-old campaigns are almost certainly done or moot, but run the VIN anyway through our Mazda recall check guide.
Paperwork and history reports
The 808 predates the 17-character VIN, so many online decoders will choke on it. Our post on VINs shorter than 17 digits explains why. History reports for cars this old are usually sparse, and the useful part is often the title brand data from the 1990s and 2000s. I'd still run one to catch a salvage or junk brand, but the receipts, old registrations and a pre-purchase inspection will tell you far more. Our classic car history report post goes into that.
CarVins is a licensed CARFAX and AutoCheck reseller and isn't affiliated with either. As of late October 2026 a report through us ran about $5.50 as a guest or $4.50 as a member, with both reports bundled for about $6.75, versus retail around $39.99 to $44.99. Checkout has the final number.
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