Mazda R360

Low weight and small size helped Mazda perfect the kei car recipe

MAZDA MAY BE celebrating its 100th birthday in 2020, but its first passenger car wasn’t officially launched until 1960. It was small, light and cheap; more importantly, the R360 Coupé represented a significant step for Japan’s motoring world. Moving away from the company’s light-commercial-vehicle origins, this tiny coupé not only laid the foundations for Mazda’s innovative road car future, but revolutionised Japan’s burgeoning kei car market.

This subcategory of weird and wonderful vehicles was introduced in 1949 in an effort to bring motoring to the masses. The Japanese Government was willing to offer huge licensing and tax benefits to vehicles falling within a certain physical size and engine capacity, to encourage manufacturers to build very small, efficient and cheap cars. Engine capacity was initially limited to 150cc but it was the increase to 360cc in 1955 that really kick-started interest.

According to Mazda, the little R360 received more than 4500 orders on launch day in May 1960, and went on to sell 23,417 in the first year. To put that into perspective, it accounted for two-thirds of the kei cars sold that year, and around 15% of the entire Japanese car market almost overnight. Impressive.

W hy was it such a hit? Up to that point, kei cars had been very slow and not particularly rewarding to drive. Although governed by the same rules as the more established competition – such as the Subaru 360 – Mazda focused on making the car as lightweight and fun-to-drive as possible. It was of monocoque construction and featured an aluminium bonnet, with plexiglass for the sliding side windows and curved rear screen. Though technically a four-seater, the rear bench was intended only for very small children.

Powering the R360 was a rear-mounted, air-cooled 356cc V-twin. Unlike the two-strokes that were commonplace, this was a refined, frugal and relatively high-revving four-stroke engine, developing 16bhp. With aluminium cylinder heads and a magnesium alloy transmission casing, it helped keep weight down to 380kg, making the R360 good for 56mph.

As well as low weight, the key to making it fun was fully independent suspension – with trailing arms and a Mini-like rubber spring set-up – and direct rackand-pinion steering.

It was such a success for Mazda that the company introduced the full four-seater Carol in 1962, with a tiny 358cc four-cylinder engine. This proved even more popular and ultimately killed demand for Mazda’s baby coupé. Mainstream R360 production continued until 1966, although it was still available to special order until 1969. Sales started off brilliantly but had tailed off by the time production ended, with 65,737 built in total.

Not only did the R360 revolutionise kei cars, which remain a fundamental part of Japanese car culture to this day, but its clever design and lightweight ethos influenced Mazda’s automotive direction for decades to come. It’s a niche prospect outside of Japan but, if you appreciate clever engineering, microcars and oddball Japanese classics, not much else comes close.