Tom Matano, the famed designer of the original Mazda Miata, FD RX-7, and more, has passed away. The Japan native was born in 1947 in Nagasaki, Japan and studied engineering at Seikei University in Tokyo but then left for America to enroll in the prestigious Art Center School of Design in Pasadena, California to study automotive design. Upon graduation he was hired in 1974 at General Motors, working first in the Oldsmobile division and then at Holden in Australia.
From there Matano headed to Munich and BMW in 1982, where he worked on the early stages of the E36 3-series. Before long, however, he was recommended to fill the chief designer role at Mazda’s North American operations in southern California.
Mazda is where Matano secured his legacy as a legendary designer, penning timeless icons like the first- and second-generation MX-5 Miatas, as well as the third-generation RX-7. Matano was also largely responsible for transforming Mazda’s studio network into a global leader in automotive design.
After retiring from Mazda, Matano went on to head the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. His passing is a great loss for the automotive community.
On a more personal note, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mr Matano a few times over the years. We’ll have more in-depth words to share soon. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his friends and family. He will be deeply missed.
Sad news. Thank you for all your contributions.
I knew Tom for many years– including during the development of the Miata, for which I was very much involved. Tom and I worked together at Mazda (North America) and Mazda Research & Development (North America) for nearly 20 years. Tom had a great sense of humor. In my early days with Mazda, Tom would call me mornings on our office phones and say, “This is your morning wake-up call!”
Many of Tom’s ideas went into the Mazda R&D building which was built during our time thee. Among these ideas was the notion to mount plain white fiberglass partial body mold plugs high on the walls in the lobby of that building. The Miata had not yet been released. So it was an inside joke when press people and others would beg to know what the car was going to look like. The whole time, people never realized that the “art” hanging above their heads in the lobby was actually the Miata!
Tom and I visited in San Francisco not long ago and took photos together, which, of course I still have.
Tom also owned (among others) a rare Italian De Tomaso Vallelunga sports car in addition to a very tricked-out Miata. He absolutely loved automobiles and automotive design. His favorite slogan was “Always Inspired”
I will miss Tom. See you on the other side, buddy…
Leon Dixon
(Former Senior Technical Writer, Project Manager and Lead Engineer for North America)
“Always Inspired”