The Mazda MX-6 was a sporty coupe, designed and built in America in a joint venture called Auto Alliance with Ford's twin, the Ford Probe. The Probe was initially to be the replacement for the Mustang, but with front-wheel drive and a 4 cylinder engine.

88-92 MX-6

The first generation MX-6/Probe appeared in 1988 and lasted until 1992. It was based on a series of futuristic concept cars of the early 1980s. It was a large coupe, based on the Mazda GD platform, and was powered by a 2.2 liter straight-4 cylinder Mazda F2 engine. The base engine produced just 110 hp, but a 145 hp turbocharged version was available.

This generation was available in several trim levels, which differ depending on the market the vehicle was sold in. In the United States, the MX-6 was available in DX, LX, LE, and GT trim levels:

• DX was the "bare bones" model, offering the base 110 hp/130 ft.lbf F2 2.2 L engine and few options, but most MX-6s sold in the U.S. were equipped with air conditioning.
• LX added power windows, power locks, and power mirrors, as well as an optional electric sunroof.
• LE was a special "Leather Edition" model that included leather seating surfaces and a leather wrapped shift knob on manual transmission-equipped vehicles.
• GT included all options from the LX, but also stepped up to the F2T 2.2L turbocharged engine, which put out 145 hp and 190 ft.lbf of torque delivering a significant performance boost.

In 1989, Mazda offered a special four wheel steering (commonly abbrieviated 4WS) option on MX-6 GTs destined for the U.S. This system consisted of an electronically controlled rear steering rack that turned the rear wheels opposite to the fronts at low speeds to improve cornering, and turned the rear wheels with the fronts at high speeds to improve highway lane change manuvering.

European and Asian spec vehicles commonly received either the 1.8 L SOHC or 2.0 L SOHC FE engine in GLX models, or the 2.0 L DOHC FE engine in their GT models. 4WS was a common option for European MX-6s. Austrailian vehicles were almost always equipped with same the 2.2 L turbocharged F2 motor as the U.S., as well as 4WS.

93-97 MX-6

The second-generation car came out in the United States in late 1992 as a 1993 model. It used Mazda's GE platform and came with Mazda-designed engines and was available in two trims:

• The base car came with a 2.0 liter FS inline 4.
• The LS version came with a 2.5 liter KL V6.

In Japan, the 2.5 L V6 was the higher performance KLZE, while the 2.0 L was a V6 called the KFZE. In Europe, the 2.0 L V6 was a lower performance KF. In Australia and Japan four wheel steering was an option.