Author Archives: Dave Yuan
Mazda launches Spirit Racing as spiritual successor to Mazdaspeed
Mazda’s big news out of the Tokyo Auto Salon was the fact that CEO Masahiro Moro let slip that he was reassembling the rotary engine development team. That overshadowed the launch of Mazda Spirit Racing, but perhaps it shouldn’t have. … Continue reading
Mazda is restoring an Autozam AZ-1 for their museum in Hiroshima
Mazda is in the process of restoring an Autozam AZ-1 for their museum in Hiroshima. This year marked the 30th anniversary of the AZ-1’s debut, and Mazda showed the partially revived car during an AZ-1 owners’ car show at the … Continue reading
Mazda to launch restoration program for FD RX-7
Mazda plans to launch a restoration program for the FD RX-7. Details are scarce for now, but we expect something similar to the Mazda Roadster Restore program launched in 2017. If that is the case, the program will likely see … Continue reading
An FD Mazda RX-7 leads police on wild car chase in this cheesy 1994 movie
Forget Dom Toretto. The best action scene involving a red FD Mazda RX-7 comes from a far more obscure movie that also has the word “Fast” in the title, and beats the original The Fast and the Furious by seven … Continue reading
The Mazda Museum in Hiroshima will soon open its newly renovated halls
If you ever find yourself in Hiroshima, you owe it to yourself to visit the Mazda Museum. It’s easily accessible by either car or train, and is located right at the heart of the company’s headquarters. Recently, Mazda renovated their … Continue reading
Happy 323 Day from JNC
A bunch of Mazda engineers recently took their basement collection of classics out for a drive for an internal event. Cars in the group included Miatas, a Eunos Cosmo, and even an FD RX-7 converted to LHD Spirit-R spec. But … Continue reading
Nissan’s Heritage Parts Program adds body panels for R33 and R34 Skyline GT-R
Nissan’s Heritage Parts Program has announced some pretty significant parts for the R33 and R34 Skyline GT-Rs. The latest batch of revival parts includes large body panels for 1995-2002 Godzillas. This includes fenders and rear quarter panels for the R33, … Continue reading
The stunning Toyota GR GT3 Concept gives us hope that the Mazda RX-Vision will be built
The Toyota GR GT3 Concept has just been unveiled at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, signaling the Big T’s intention to enter the GT3 class of touring car racing. The car is absolutely gorgeous, hands down the best looking Toyota … Continue reading
QotW: What’s your fondest memory of the Acura Integra?
The elephant in the room this week is obviously the new Acura Integra. We thought about asking how Honda could have done better or, why automakers were constantly disappointing enthusiasts, but we felt that that horse had been well-beaten. So … Continue reading
There will be no 2022 Nissan GT-R in America as history repeats with Millennium Jade
When Nissan revealed the special edition GT-R T-spec yesterday, we noticed a strange discrepancy between the US and Japan versions. The US T-specs are officially labeled as 2021 models, while in Japan it’s called a 2022 model. We reached out … Continue reading
Kunio Matsuura, Mr. Rotary Racing, led Mazda motorsports for 27 years to its 1991 Le Mans victory
Today marks the 30th anniversary of Mazda’s historic win at Le Mans with the iconic rotary-powered 787B. We have explored Mazda’s journey in this and other endurance racing events over the years, yet were only scratching the surface. The people … Continue reading
Mazda’s RX-7 heritage parts inventory has been expanded
Mazda has just quietly published an updated version of their RX-7 heritage parts list. The program launched in December 2020 with about 90 parts total for both second-generation FC3S and third-generation FD3S models. With the latest update, there are now … Continue reading
The Mazda Miata will reportedly be electrified by decade’s end
This week has been filled with reports about Japan’s hallowed nameplates. First there was the Skyline, then Celica, and now Miata. The latest to come out of Japanese media about Mazda’s roadster says that it will be electrified within nine … Continue reading
Mazda shows straight-six rear-wheel-drive platform and outlines the coming decades
On June 17 Mazda dropped a ton of information regarding its plans for the next decade. As expected, electrification is on its way, but that doesn’t mean the outlook is bleak for motoring enthusiasts. Additionally, Mazda has released renderings of … Continue reading
The Toyota S-FR was almost certainly a Mazda Miata underneath
The Toyota S-FR concept debuted at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2015 to much fanfare. The lightweight, rear-wheel-drive coupe had a manual transmission and was said to complete Toyota’s “three sports car brothers” trio below the 86 and Supra. Aichi … Continue reading
Mazda restores a 40-year-old concept that was the first MX car
It appears that Mazda is continuing its streak of restoring works from its 100-plus years of history. The latest car to be restored is the Mazda MX-81, a 40-year-old concept car that also happens to be the first Mazda to … Continue reading
Production Nissan 400Z discovered in patent filing
Ever since seeing the Nissan Z Proto, we’ve been wondering if the production version will stay true to the concept. Well, that question has been answered because Nissan’s patent filings for the Z35 have just been discovered. And, we are … Continue reading
Mazda’s hotly anticipated FR platform will begin production in 2022
A new report out of Japan sheds some light onto what Mazda’s plans are for its upcoming front-engined, rear-wheel-drive platform. The chassis is eagerly awaited by Mazda’s hard-core fans (us included), as it will also include the long-awaited straight-six engine. … Continue reading