What’s better than getting a gift from Santa Claus? Getting a ride in Santa’s personal gift-hauler, of course. And if you’re a kid in Yokohama, Japan, Santa’s ride is a 150-horse (generation dependent) open Mazda. With the help of a crew of Roadster owners, Mazda Japan organized a drive through the city in a fleet of MX-5s, giving the kids an unforgettable experience of Jinba Ittai motoring.
As a civic promotion, every December the city of Yokohama enlists volunteers dressed as Santa to flood the town and do good deeds, like picking up litter and organize dance performances. Mazda has an R&D center in Yokohama — which houses the oldest rotary-powered Mazda left in existence — so as their duty the company sent employees and owners out into the streets in Santa outfits and Roadsters.
Kids not only got to ride around town in Santa’s Miata, but were invited to tour the R&D facility. One Mazda employee even drove his personal NC Roadster all the way from Hiroshima to Yokohama (about 500 miles each way) to participate. Now that’s the holiday spirit! As it happens, it turned out to be a pleasant and sunny day in Yokohama and all the Santas were able to zoom-zoom around the city with the top down. There was no dashing through the snow, but a jolly good time was had by all.
Images courtesy of Mazda.
You know, you don’t hear about too many JNC clubs doing that sort of bit Stateside. It would be nice if more clubs organized and sponsored charitable events, such as road rallies, giving underprivileged and orphaned youths a ride in a JNC. It would also raise awareness of JNC clubs, the signficance and worth of early Japanese cars, and what a great hobby it can be. Unfortunately, in our lawsuit-ridden country, it would take miles of red tape, permits, insurance, attorneys, liability disclaimers, etc. ad nauseam, making it a rather costly endeavor. it’s a thought, though….
Well done Mazda!
Ben, why is that NB censored? Please tell me it’s at least some Manga
I’m not sure. Maybe there was a copyrighted image in the artwork.
It looks to be a Pikachu face, which very well could be a copyrighted image.
Pika…Pika…PIKA-SUE!!!
Copyright infringements: Gotta catch ‘em ALL.