Mazda: Discover the history of the brand
REVIEW One of the biggest attractions in the Japanese city of Hiroshima is the recently renovated Mazda Museum. In ten areas, it displays little-known details from the brand's bygone days.
Based in Hiroshima, the Mazda automotive group was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Company, renamed Toyo Kogyo in 1927, and finally transformed into Mazda Motor Corporation in 1984. The Mazda Museum at the company's headquarters in Hiroshima, which is open to the public free of charge, is the ideal place to experience the brand's significant past.
It all started with a tricycle
Jujiro Matsuda started the Mazda adventure in Osaka. Among the first products was a three-wheeled utility vehicle. It perfectly symbolizes the brand's versatile history, as it is made entirely of parts manufactured in Japan and can carry an impressive 400 kilograms of cargo.
Today, the museum exhibits the successor type GB - in the cult color Green Panel.
From the middle of the 20th century, Mazda then focused on passenger cars. Among the most historically significant models are the Cosmo Sport, the Savanna and the Cosmo AP, one of the first vehicles to be launched in red.
In several series on race tracks
Mazda also demonstrated top-level sporting prowess in several racing series, including Le Mans and IMSA. One of the most eye-catching exhibits is the Mazda 787B, which scored a historic victory in the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours.
The only V12 engine of the Japanese, developed from 1980, had a displacement of 4000 cm3, but never made it into a production car. But Mazda's Challenger spirit lives on in other unique engine creations, such as a 3-disc Wankel engine and a V6 Miller Cycle engine.
Life-size visions as a concept
With their elegant exteriors, the Vision Coupé and RX-Vision models are the perfect end to the museum visit. Both were brought to life thanks to the exceptional skills of an experienced clay model maker who transformed his ideas into life-size models that later became concept cars. Next to the two concept cars is the Mazda LM55 Vision Gran Turismo, a life-size model of the car from the Gran Turismo video game.
