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In the early 1970s, the folks at Mazda made cars-and cried a lot. Mazda produced the rotary engine, which if you believed the boasting, was not only going to replace the reciprocating piston engine but also would solvethe problem of premature baldness.

The rotary, then best known as the Wankel, was going to set the autoworld on its ear.

One thing the rotary couldn`t do, however, is get decent gas mileage at a time when fuel prices began to rise and the spigots were heading toward“off.“

The telling blow, however, was when General Motors Corp. gave up on theengine. Had GM gone Wankel, that would have given the engine the credibilityit needed. But GM backed off.

Some Mazda officials threw tantrums at these setbacks and others bit thebullet, went back to Japan and returned with Mazda cars with reciprocatingpiston engines. It was a classic example of “if you can`t beat `em, join`em.“

Mazda didn`t abandon the rotary. It kept that engine for its limitededition RX-7 sports model. Rather than force-feed rotaries to the public,Mazda dangled a few to sports car enthusiasts willing to pay the price.

That historical perspective of Mazda came to mind when test driving the1988 323 GT with its 1.6-liter, turbocharged engine. Had sanity not prevailed at Mazda, had officials taken the ball and gone home, there wouldn`t be a 323,626, 929 or even an RX-7 from the Japanese automaker.

The 323 is a honey of a car. Mazda`s strength, as it is with mostJapanese carmakers, is an ability to build nimble handling cars that seem tohave telepathy and go in the direction the driver wants at only the slightest hint. Though only a 2,300 pounder (the car, not the driver, thank you), the323 sticks to the road in corners and turns, when merging or making faststarts and quick stops.

The other beauty of the 323, as well as most Japanese cars, is an ability to provide lots of room and space in a very small vehicle. The 323`s wheelbaseis 94.5 inches and length 169.7 inches. It looks bigger from the outside andit certainly feels bigger inside.

Of course, without performance, the above mentioned goodies would be fornaught. With the 16-valve, turbocharged, 1.6-liter, the 323 is a pocketrocket. It develops 132 horsepower. The 323 GT delivers what the VolkswagenGTI promised but fell short on. The 0-to-60 m.p.h. time is 8 seconds and topspeed 123 miles an hour, but fuel economy is 22 miles per gallon city and 27m.p.g. highway.

Two drawbacks. The 323 turbo GT only comes in four-door sedan and onlywith 5-speed manual. The four-door is a decent looking vehicle, but without a “16 Valve“ decal on the door you`d take it for just another small economycar. Perhaps a few exterior cosmetics are in order.

And two annoyances: Horn buttons in the base of the steering wheel areeasy to hit by mistake and the gas pedal is a shade too narrow. Our footslipped off twice. There`s ample room to widen the gas pedal withoutinterfering with the brake pedal.

The 323 GT features 14-inch alloy wheels with performance tires and rackand pinion steering as standard. Speed sensitive power steering is optional.With speed sensitive steering, you get more assist when needed for such thingsas parking, less assist on the open road when cruising. Good system.

The car also has an automatic adjusting suspension with push buttonselection for normal, soft or firm sport shock settings.

Sport is for those who like to feel the tar marks, normal for those whodon`t. Soft didn`t seem different than the normal setting.

The 323 GT starts at $11,799, up $300 from the outset of the model runfrom the impact of the rising yen against the U.S. dollar. A bit pricey.

Mazda expects to sell 260,000 cars in the U.S in 1988, of which 34percent will be 323s.