The first corporate logo dates back to 1936. It was registered as a trademark when Mazda began manufacturing its first three-wheeler. The name itself is a derivative from Ahura Mazda, the god of wisdom, intelligence and harmony in early Asian cultures. It also derives from the anglicized version of the founder’s name, Jujiro Matsuda.
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If a cute little roadster/coupe like the Primo ever made it through Fiat's gates, there's no reason it couldn't be placed right on the 500's platform as a range expander. That would also allow for the Abarth boys to put an entry-level coupe in their stable of hi-po compacts.
Everyone knows Fiat currently has its hands full trying to reinvent Chrysler, integrate its 500 into the US market, and make Alfa Romeo profitable, but a 500 Coupe sure would make an interesting addition to Fiat's lineup somewhere down the line. More pictures after the jump.
The Mazda2s seen here are designed with two different goals in mind: looking slick on the street, or tearing it up at the track.
The Mazda2 Street keeps it simple by getting lowered on a set of 15x9s and adding some lower-body graphics, while the Mazda2 Evil Track gets the same rims, more aggressive vinyl, and enough safety/racing gear to meet NASA and SCCA standards. The "Evil Track" also wears a Mazda Design body kit and rides on H&R coilovers.
There's also a guy with a white racing helmet driving what looks like an old Suzuki Alto, but we're not sure if he's part of the Top Gear crew or if some fans of the show decided to make fun of The Stig. As always, any help with the translation, would be welcome. Watch the video after the jump.
According to one of our tipsters, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond drove their specially modified BMW Z3, Fiat Barchetta and Mazda MX-5 roadsters from Jordan to Israel and their next stop will be at the Golan Heights and at Nazareth. Maybe we'll get some new photos from the shoot, but for now, enjoy some high-res pics after the jump.
Let me guess; some of you are wondering what the heck is "doodle design"? Well, simply put, it's the sort of unfocused and usually random sketches you've all drawn at some point in your life on schoolbooks and quite possibly in your later years, on notepads during work meetings maybe even throughout some horrifically boring speech at an automotive press event... But what has doodle-design got to do with these one-off Mazda models?Well, as part of its sponsorship of the "O2 World Tour" event held in Hamburg, Germany, the Japanese firm raffled off a Mazda2, Mazda3 and an MX-5 / Miata Roadster, all of which featured the same drawings from doodle-design artist, Carl Heinz Daxl.
We can't but wonder how long will it take for the three owners of the cars to remove the 'doodly' finish...
As part of the year-round celebrations for the two decades of the MX-5 / Miata roadster, Mazda has crafted this special Superlight concept for the Frankfurt Motor Show. Based on the latest facelift version of the MX-5, the zoomalicious Superlight is a two-seater speedster model with no windscreen that has been stripped down to the very basics in order to achieve a kerb weight of just under a tonne thus improving the vehicle's driving dynamics. It was developed at Mazda's European R+D centre in Oberursel, Germany."I've dreamed of building a Mazda MX-5 with this kind of radical form for a long time," says Peter Birtwhistle, Mazda Motor Europe's Chief Designer. "Now that weight reduction has become a dominant factor in automotive development, the time is ripe for it. We show how lightweight a car today can be."
Aside from the elimination of the windscreen that allows the driver and passenger to come in full contact with their immediate surroundings, Mazda's designers also removed the MX-5's retractable top and its frame.
The removal of the windscreen required the extension of the original aluminum bonnet into the cabin with a lightweight carbon fiber sheet that provides a "hood" for the dashboard frame while it also houses the single, filigree aluminium, wide-angle mirror.
The Superlight also gets a pair of special roll over bars fitted with LED brake lights which prevent wind turbulence around the heads of the passengers.
Inside, the driver and passenger of the Superlight concept are greeted by racing bucket seats made of ultra-lightweight carbon fibre and are upholstered with the same saddle colored leather as the armrests, the steering wheel, and the lightweight aluminium shift lever and hand brake.
The dashboard that contains the same instruments as the production MX-5 along with a starter button, is made of lightweight plastic reinforced with fibreglass. As you'd suspect, the interior has been stripped out of any unnecessary features such as the air condition and fan as well as sound insulation mats and rugs.
Underneath the sheetmetal, the Superlight retains the production MX-5's 126-horsepower 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine paired to a five-speed manual transmission. However, there's a Mazdaspeed cold-air intake made of polished and powder-coated aluminium and a Mazdaspeed exhaust system that allow the engine to deliver a sportier sound.
Mazda's engineers also fitted the show car with four-piston, fixedcalliper brake system with perforated discs that required an increase in track of 50 mm and a 30mm lower Bilstein B16 coil-over suspension plus Eibach stabilisers. The superlight rides on stock 205/45 R17 original-equipment tires and alloy wheels from the 2.0-litre version, that weight in at less than 8 kg.
Weighing in at just 995 kg or 2,194 pounds, the Superlight accelerates from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 8,9 seconds consuming only 6.3 lt /100 km (37.3 mpg US) with CO2 emissions of 150g/km. That's compared to the stock MX-5 1.8's 1,080kg, 9,9 seconds, 9.5 lt/100km (33.6 mpg US) and 167g/km CO2.
The Japanese carmaker said that at least for the time being, there are no plans to built a production version of the Superlight, but as we've said, you never know with a company like Mazda...
Technical Specifications
