Mazda continues to defy convention as the marque celebrates 100 years CORKER OF A CENTURY
Japanese car maker Mazda celebrates 100 years in business this year – with a strong Scots connection.
The company, which began as a cork manufacturer in 1920, has one of the world’s most iconic roadsters, the MX-5, in its stable. But what is not so well known is that Dunfermline-born car designer Moray Cal lum was instrumental in its recent design.
Callum worked on the Mk3 version while he was with Mazda from 2001 to 2006, as well as SUVs like the CX-7 and CX- 9, which set out the company’s design language for the future.
A special edition of the MX-5, which is the world’s best-selling two-seater roadster, wil l be a feature of the anniversary celebrations.
The serious little sports car offering the joy of the road passed the million mark in sales in 2015 and continues to go from strength to strength.
Mazda UK boss Jeremy Thomson said: “Mazdas have been sold in the UK for over 50 years and today, just as in the past, UK consumers love the style, quality and driver involvement of our cars.
“The UK’s passion for the MX- 5 means we’ve sold more than 130,000 here, and today a l l ou r cars feature the essence of the Jinba Ittai driver-and-car-as-one philosophy that is exemplified by the MX-5.”
Mazda quickly moved from Hiroshima cork producer to machine tool producer and then vehicle manufacturer when it was taken over by industrialist Jujiro Matsuda in the 1920s.
Its first model was the three-wheeled truck Mazda- Go, which went on sale in 1931 and got an innovative four-speed transmission in 1938.
Commercial vehicles remained the company’s priority until 1960. Its first passenger car, the Mazda R360, was specif ically designed for the Japanese market – a small, lightweight automobile ideal for the congestion and population density of Japan’s cities with their narrow streets.
The model was a huge hit and paved the way for the company’s push into the lucrative passenger car market.
It has never been afraid to dabble in the extraordinary – using a rotary engine, for example, in its vehicles from 1967 to 2012.
This was first seen in the Mazda Cosmo, but in the 70s it was under the bonnet of the company’s racing cars – and in 1991 the Mazda 787B of Johnny Herbert, Volker Weidler and Bertrand Gachot won the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Mazda was also an early dabbler in hydrogen technology – the RX- 8 Hydrogen RE unveiled at the 2003 Tokyo Motor Show went on sale in Japan and its bi-fuel rotary powertrain could run on hydrogen or petrol.
In the last 15 years, the soaring popularity of SUVs has witnessed the company yet again take up the gauntlet and it now has a full stable of utility vehicles, helped by its early experience in commercial models with four-wheel-drive capability.
Mazda will mark its 100 years with a new car appropriate to the time. Expected in early 2021, the all- electric MX-30 crossover will join its line-up of award-winning cars and SUVs.
The firm says the MX prefix is given to a car that defies convention, like the MX- 5, which was created at a time when the industry was moving away from small affordable sports cars. The MX-30 will be limited to 500 cars in the UK and come in at about £27,495.
Mazda has never been afraid to dabble in the extraordinary