Ford Laser TX3 Turbo 4WD

The Unknown 90s Turbo Weapon

 The late eighties/early nineties was a glorious time for automotive advancement. The styling had moved on from the early 80’s boxy style to a more rounded look. Also more prevalent was the introduction of turbo charging to mainstream audiences. Spurred on by international rally competitions, manufacturers like Mitsubishi, Subaru and Toyota designed and built powerful four wheel drive warriors. 

The Mazda 323 GTX was born when Mazda declined to support the Word Rally Championship Group B RX7 to instead focus on Group A. It developed a car using the Mazda Familia chassis giving it full time four wheel drive and a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine, which produced 186kW (250hp). Unfortunately this engine was outgunned by the more powerful 2 litre competitors, managing to only win three out of 54 races between 1986 and 1990.

In 1990 Mazda developed a new car with the Familia GTX. This used the new BF platform and had a larger 1.8 litre 209 kW (280hp) turbocharged engine, still using full time four wheel drive. Mazda even went on to develop the Familia GTR with an even more powerful engine and various other goodies to tackle rallying before finally losing interest in rally racing after the 1993 season. These cars continued to race privately with mixed success.

What has all this got to do with Ford I hear you ask. Well during this period, ford was sharing various platforms for their cars with other manufactures in a process called rebadging. The Mazda 626 and Ford Telstar, is one example and another is the Nissan Pintara and Ford Corsair. Ford also used the Mazda 323 chassis for their Ford Laser line. This started in the early 80s and continued until 2003. 

Ford took the opportunity to use the Mazda Familia GTX cassis and drive line to create a hero car of their own. In 1986 the Ford Laser TX3 was born. The TX3 was initially only available with a 1.6 litre fuel injected engine producing 61 kW (82hp). The next year the laser was given a facelift and with it came the option of a turbo motor producing 101 kW (135hp) and four wheel drive. The engines were the same engines as used in the Familia GTX, but were detuned due to Australia’s inferior fuel. All ford lasers in Australia were built in their Homebush plant in Sydney, except for the four wheel drive turbo versions which were built in Japan and imported.

The fact that Ford added the four wheel drive model is significant as they did not have an equivalent vehicle anywhere in the world at the time. There was a performance model of the Escort in the RS Turbo, but it was still front wheel drive and the mighty Sierra would not get a four wheel drive version until 1990. 

When Ford introduced the third generation of Laser in 1989 they did not forget to include an updated TX3. The base model had the updated 1.8 litre BP1800 engine producing 92 kW (123hp) or the four wheel drive turbo model which produced 117 kW (157hp), again less than the Mazda counterpart at 132 kW (178hp). As with the previous generation the turbo model was built in Japan and imported to Australia.

Today the TX3 Turbo is a rare car to see on the roads. It never achieved the popularity of similar models at the time such as the Subaru Impreza WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer GSR, and therefore often goes unnoticed. However it was still not uncommon to see one out and about on a Saturday night.

While new cars today are more powerful, reliable and better handling, the TX3 still remains one of the original turbo hot hatches that put a smile on your face every time you drive it with its raw driving experience. You could easily call the  Focus RS this spiritual successor to the TX3. It is the first turbo four wheel drive hot hatch since the TX3 available in Australia. The focus is an unbelievable car to drive and produces the same smiles per miles that the TX3 can. However, the drive is still tainted by electronic intrusion which has made all the modern cars so reliable and safe.