Tag: Mazda

Pillarless Under the Rising Sun: Japan’s Four-Door Hardtops

Luxury Cars, Model Histories
53 Comments

Most English-language automotive histories will tell you that the four-door hardtop became extinct in the late seventies, a victim of American safety regulations. That may have been true in the U.S., but Japan’s love affair with hardtops continued well into the nineties, including some models you probably didn’t know you knew. In this installment of Ate Up With Motor, we present a brief survey of the Japanese four-door hardtop.

1992 Nissan Laurel Extra Diesel four-door hardtop (Q-SC33) open doors © 2001 Scott McPherson (used with permission)

(Photo © 2001 Scott McPherson; used with permission)

Continue Reading Pillarless Under the Rising Sun: Japan’s Four-Door Hardtops

Pages 1 2 3 4 View All

RX-Rated: Mazda’s Early Rotary Cars, Part 2

Model Histories, Sports Cars and Muscle Cars
54 Comments

Between 1971 and 1978, Mazda launched nine new rotary-engined vehicles, including the Capella (Mazda RX-2), Savanna (RX-3), Luce (RX-4), Cosmo (RX-5), and the REPU. By 1979, only three survived and the company had come perilously close to collapse. In the second part of our history of Mazda rotary engines, we take a look at those vehicles and trace Toyo Kogyo’s dramatic reversals of fortune in the 1970s.
1977 Mazda RX-3SP grille badge
Continue Reading RX-Rated: Mazda’s Early Rotary Cars, Part 2

Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 View All

RX-Rated: Mazda’s Early Rotary Cars, Part 1

Model Histories, Sports Cars and Muscle Cars
27 Comments

Mazda has a long history with rotary engines, going back to the Cosmo Sport and R100 of the late 1960s. With the recently announced demise of the RX-8 — the last rotary-engined model still in production — we look back at the origins of the Wankel engine and the history of the early Mazda rotary engine cars: the Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S, Familia Rotary (Mazda R100), and Luce Rotary Coupé (R130).
1971 Mazda R100 coupe badge
Continue Reading RX-Rated: Mazda’s Early Rotary Cars, Part 1

Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 View All

Outfoxing the Fox: The Fox Mustangs and Mustang SVO

Model Histories, Sports Cars and Muscle Cars
29 Comments

For most people, the words “Ford Mustang” evoke one of two things: the original 1964–1966 icon of sixties Americana or the boxy 1979–1993 Fox Mustangs so beloved of amateur hot–rodders. This week, we consider how one evolved into the other, examine the history of Ford’s ubiquitous Fox platform, and take a look at the most unusual of all Mustangs: the high-tech, turbocharged, four-cylinder 1984-1986 Ford Mustang SVO.
1986 Ford Mustang SVO badge
Continue Reading Outfoxing the Fox: The Fox Mustangs and Mustang SVO