For the final post of the year we wanted to end on a heartwarming story about Naoko Nishimoto, the coolest lady you’ll ever meet. Nishimoto just turned 80 years old on December 18, and has been dailying an FD Mazda RX-7 for the last 25 years. The Japanese grandmother from Nagasaki recently became a viral sensation in Japan when she announced in a TV interview that she’d be turning in the FD’s keys on before her 80th birthday.
Nishimoto got her driver’s license when she was 21 years old, nearly six decades ago. She soon met what she calls “the first love of her life”, a Toyota Publica 800. After she got married at age 23, Nishimoto swapped out the Publica for a Toyota Corona coupe. But at the sprightly age of 55, she one day noticed a cool-looking sports car as she watched TV with her grandson.
“I watched the anime Initial D,” Nishimoto told KTN, a local Nagasaki station. “When battling, it was so cool, a young man driving at high speed on a touge.” She told her grandson she’d like to drive one. He told her it was a Mazda RX-7, and she began searching for one right away. After combing all the dealerships in the prefecture, Nishimoto found the silver example that she bought and affectionately named “Seven”.
Since then Nishimoto has driven it Monday through Saturday, usually to the grocery store or run errands, accumulating 77,500 km (approximately 48,150 miles). Nishimoto described Seven as “a partner” and “a friend who is always with me” to Japan’s NBC news. “Whether I was happy, depressed, or just a little angry, the RX-7 was always there for me.”
As is customary when elderly drivers reach a certain age, Nishimoto surrendered her driver’s license recently. In a local TV interview she mentioned that she’d like to sell the car before turning 80. Upon airing, she was flooded with around 400 requests to buy the car. One such request was from Mazda. Nishimoto ultimately decided that she wanted to sell the car back to its maker.
On her birthday, Mazda held a small ceremony for Nishimoto at the Nagasaki City dealership. They framed the personalized license plate (just the number 7) and presented her with a letter from Mazda president Masahiro Moro. “I’m sure you can still vividly remember the joy of the moment you chose the shiny silver RX-7. It’s be a great honor for all of us at Mazda that we could bring some color to Nishimoto-san’s life with the RX-7,” it read.
After handing over the keys, Nishimoto said, “I came here in Seven, and I’m returning alone. It’s my partner that I’ve been with for 25 years. I’ve enjoyed driving it, so I have no regrets about letting it go. Finally, I would like to say thank you to Seven.”
The car will now be taken to Hiroshima for maintenance before being moved to Yokohama, where it will live a new life as a promotional car for Mazda. We desperately hope that at the age of 80 we will still be as spirited as Nishimoto and still driving our dream cars. She is an inspiration to us all. Happy new year, Nishimoto-san, and to all the fellow JNC drivers out there.
Thanks so much for sharing this, I love the story.
I ‘only’ had my FD for ten years (for seven of which it was my only car), but I can certainly identify with Nishimoto-san’s experience. They’re very easy, intuitive cars to drive, fast or slow.
I’m impressed that she was presumably able to have it maintained at her local franchised Mazda dealership? The dealers here in the UK could barely handle them when they were on sale new, let alone thereafter.
Here’s another interview with English subtitles.
Even though in her later years it was a shopping car, she did take it on a few road trips.