When the 90s rolled around, Mazda came up with the idea of building an affordable, lightweight sports coupe and packing it with a lot of power. Mazda was a somewhat quirky brand in the 90s, and they wanted to appeal to younger drivers with a fun and affordable car. They teamed up with Ford to build a lighter chassis for their existing MX-6, and the second generation MX-6 was born.

Photo credit: Dechiz

Photo credit: Jeremy

Why We Love the Second Gen MX-6

The car looked futuristic when it hit the roads in 1993 with its sleek body and state-of-the-art interior. It also sported many upgrades from the first generation, including but not limited to:

Increased power

Better fuel economy

Improved handling

Superior cornering stability

A luxurious interior with many modern (at the time) features

The well-engineered, lightweight coupe was a revolutionary car at the time because lightweight sports cars were still a new concept in the early 90s. It sported a few rare features, such as a V6 engine connected to a manual transaxle and a capable FWD system.

Speaking of which, the more powerful of the two V6 engines found in second generation MX-6s had great power. It produced 160 horsepower, which, when paired with the lightweight body, made the MX-6 pretty fast. There's also the JDM version of the engine, which pushes up to 200 horsepower and is easy to modify for the track.

Why Future Collectors Will Go Wild Over This Car

Here’s a fun fact: Mazda knew from the very beginning that their second generation MX-6 was worthy of a spot in future collectors’ garages, as evidenced by this 1993 commercial:

We can give you a couple good reasons why the second generation MX-6 may end up being worth a lot of money in the future:

It’s rare: Mazda discontinued the MX-6 only four years after kicking off its second generation because sales weren’t great. As a result, only a handful of MX-6s were ever produced (as opposed to the MX-5 Miata, which hit its 1M-mark last year). Unfortunately, many MX-6s have either ended up in junkyards or heavily modified, making it tough to find a well-preserved one with all of its original parts. It's well-designed: In addition to the engine’s position being pushed farther back, the MX-6’s chassis was so aptly designed and built that the sports coupe was in the ideal power and handling zone. Like Mazda used to say, it just feels right. It was revolutionary: The MX-6 dropped jaws among Mazda’s target market: young drivers on a budget. It was one of the first cars that proved luxury, good power, and great handling weren’t exclusive to expensive cars. It's not a big investment. There’s a good chance the MX-6's value will skyrocket in the future, but if it doesn’t, no biggie. You’ll be out a couple thousand bucks or so, as the MX-6 is currently one of the cheapest cars you can buy today.

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