There have been four generations of Mazda

Mazda

is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...

 automobiles which went by the name of Cosmo, although they are not all particularly related. All were Grand tourer

Grand tourer

A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

s, with the first proving a successful launch for the Mazda Wankel engine

Mazda Wankel engine

The Mazda Wankel engines are family of car engines derived from experiments in the early 1960s by Felix Wankel, a German engineer...

 and acting as a "halo" vehicle for the new Mazda brand. Later Cosmos competed in the ultra-high luxury performance market in Japan with the final JC Cosmo (1990–1995) sold as the Eunos Cosmo - Eunos

Eunos cars

In the late 1980s, Mazda diversified in the Japan market with the launch of three new marques. The company created Autozam, Eunos, and Ẽfini, in addition to the Mazda and Ford brands already marketed there...

 was a luxury sales channel similar to Toyota's Lexus

Lexus

is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. First introduced in 1989 in the United States, Lexus is now sold globally and has become Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. The Lexus marque is marketed in over 70 countries and territories worldwide, and has...

 brand.
The first Mazda to bear the Cosmo name (called the 110S) was the first 2-rotor rotary engine

Wankel engine

The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that...

 powered series car.