Been reading an article in Autocar magazine (from 2nd December last year) celebrating 100 years of Mazda. It was an interesting piece, lots of stuff in there I was completely unaware of, but very much highlighting the innovation and determination to 'go their own way', bucking the accepted trends and methods of the times.

A few things jumped out, first of these were the fact that from 1987 through into the 90's, Mazda were the official importers of Citroen cars into Japan, starting with the BX. They also, for a short time (no dates given), sold Lancia cars. Both of these were done through Mazda's own portfolio of 'brands', Citroen being sold through Eunos dealers, and Lancia by Autozam.

In terms of vehicles, one of the standout cars for me, in terms its looks, was the beautiful (rotary engined) Cosmo which ran from 1967 to 1972. But I was also taken by the first Mazda car, the R360 from 1960. Being a kei car meant it was tiny, and used (as the name implies) a 360c engine. But this didn't stop the unexpected sophistication of allround independent suspension. The USA has always been a big market, and to that end, Mazda decided to enter the pickup market. But being the mavericks they were, perhaps unwisely, decided their pickup would use a rotary engine. The four carb, twin rotor unit revved to 7000rpm, a bit different to the big V8's of the US pickups!. It won't come as a surprise to learn that it wasn't a big success, selling around 15000 between 1974 and 1977. But they are now highly prized by collectors!. As an ex bus driver, I was also interested in the 1976 Mazda Parkway Rotary 26 (seater) bus. This used a 135bhp development of the RX7's engine and could hit 75mph, but fuel consumption would likely be catastrophic!.

There was a section on innovations, such as that Mazda were the first company to use recycled materials on a car (1992). Four wheel steering, while Honda were the first company to fit this in a production car in 1987 (the Prelude), it was a mechanical system. The following year Mazda fitted the first electronic system to the 626. Stop start technology is very much the norm these days. When it first started making an appearance (possibly still the case now), manufacturers would buy in the tech from outside suppliers, but Mazda made its own system. Sensors detected which piston was on a power-stroke when the engine stopped enabling it to restart more smoothly and efficiently than other systems. Mazda fitted the first sat nav with real-time positioning to the 1990 Eunos Cosmo.

The rotary engine has something of the Marmite effect about it, but I can't imagine any petrolhead not enjoying the screaming soundtrack of the 787B (which won at Le Mans in 1991) in this short YouTube clip, so turn the volume up!

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