Advertising Feature - The MX-5, A Runaway Success

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

There is no question that Mazda’s new baby, the lovely MX-5, is set to become a runaway success. It has already become so in America and Japan, and if the enthusiastic press reports in Europe are to believed, that trend will continue in Europe as well.

Easier to be wise after the event with twenty/twenty hindsight, the arrival of the MX-5 was not a foregone conclusion. It was far from being ordained as being a success from the day of its conception. In fact, Mazda is the first to admit that the sensation the fabulous little sports car has caused was not anticipated at all, whether in Japan, California or anywhere else. The fact that it is set to become The motoring experience of the Nineties, however, is something few would dispute.

It was in 1983 that the work really began in earnest on the project, codenamed P279. As an idea it had been dear to the hearts of a few eccentric Americans, weened and fed on a steady diet of English sports cars in their youth, but since their demise, it seemed likely that a cloak had been drawn over that chapter of motoring life. That was reckoning, however, without the sheer chutzpah of the Mazda Motor Corporation.

Although it was known that the production of a lightweight sports car was the ultimate goal, the mechanical configuration and specification had yet to be worked out. Should it be front-wheel drive, mid-engined or rear-wheel driven as in the case of the Lotus Elan of the Sixties? It took less than 12 months for “a front engine driving the rear wheels” configuration to be decided upon even if at this stage the project was still far from going into production.

In fact, the next stage of development was neither in Mazda’s Technical Research Centre in Irvine nor at Hiroshima, but at Worthing in Sussex. Britain’s International Automotive Design, IAD, was commissioned to design and build a prototype car based on the American styling theme. This country has long been regarded as the home of the traditional open top sports car and IAD had built for itself a formidable reputation as one of Europe’s largest independent automotive and engineering companies.

For eight months, from January to August 1985, the project, now codenamed V705, which conveyed the message that it would be an experimental car, was left in IAD’s hands to produce a running prototype.

Tuesday, 17th September, 1985, is a red letter day in the model’s history for this was the date that IAD received a delegation from Mazda Japan and North America to view and then drive the prototype in England, a task it underwent with flying colours.

After this successful debut, it was scheduled to be shipped back to Japan, but on the orders of Managing Director Masataka Matsui, the newly appointed head of the Technical Research Centre to which the project and the car still belonged, it was redirected to the United States since the “P279 was conceived with America as its main target place and the styling was conceived and executed in America.”

As the momentum increased, IAD was again called in to play a part by Japan who commissioned the English specialists to build a fleet of mechanical prototypes in 1986. At the same time, a third full-size scale model was being worked in America and back at Hiroshima, the engineers and designers were putting the finishing touches to the first set of drawings.

Little by little the final shape and configuration was being formed until it was ready for presentation to Mazda’s American marketing representatives, followed by a series of clinics. Despite the enthusiasm with which the new baby was received, there was still one final hurdle to clear.

Michinori Yamanouchi, Managing Director in charge of product planning and development, had been an advocate of Mazda producing a micro car, which had become very popular in Japan. The trouble was that the factory simply did not possess the capacity for producing a small car alongside a sports car. It was a question of either or.

To his eternal credit, he decided upon production of the MX-5 which, in effect, meant pulling the plug on the other, in-house, project. From that time, Mazda’s little sports car has proved over and over again that this was the right decision, the result of which we in Britain are about to benefit with the arrival of the greatest little sports car in the world — the MX-5.