What could be better than Autozam, a marque whose brief existence personified the concept of strange and petite on this market in the ‘90s? Hubristic adventures in brand-creating, which started as a notion to become a Japanese GM and ended up in the company Sloane-laddering their way to near bankruptcy.The car itself may not be so unknown to some of you, as these were fairly popular in places like Australia or Europe under the name Mazda 121. Alas, success abroad was not to be mirrored by domestic acclaim, as this post’s title hinted.

It had all started so well for the little four-door. Unveiled in September 1990, mere months after the official launch of the Autozam marque, the Revue had been the subject of much thought on the part of Mazda, both in terms of its bubbly appearance and its parsimonious construction. The latter was evidenced by the simplicity of the dash, the lack of body variants, or the fact that power windows were simply not an option for the rear passengers.

The concept was sound, if a little unconventional. The Revue was to offer as much interior space as possible thanks to a long wheelbase and a high roof, while being small and yet retain the traditional three-box design. Well, almost – they called it the 2.5-box design, but it wasn’t a hatchback. It was sold to the Japanese public as “the world’s smallest sedan” and with only 3.8 meters in total length, it was certainly not huge.

The lack of a body variant and cheap construction alluded to above were at least partially offset by the presence of a sophisticated three-position power-operated fabric roof option. These were really having a moment in the ‘90s.

Like any JDM car, the Revue was offered in a multitude of grades – Special S, S1, Special K, K1, Luna K… Cuir (French for “leather”) was an option, though probably a rarely picked one on the JDM.

The platform was closely linked (but not strictly identical) to the Ford Festiva, featuring the same engines. The S grade cars, as far as I can tell, were powered by a 76hp 1.3 liter 4-cyl., while the more upmarket K grade had access to the 88hp 1.5 liter engine. Both could be coupled to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic.