MotorFriend's video: Road History - Mazda

http://twitter.com/Motor_Friend Jujiro Matsuda was an inventor born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1875. He ran several manufacturing plants in the 1900’s, and developed the “Mazda Go” Rickshaw for Mitsubishi in 1931. When World War II struck, Most of Matsuda’s resources went to producing rifles for the Japanese military. In 1945, the Nuclear bombing of Hiroshima wiped out most of the city’s factories, but the Mazda plant, with a mountain between it and the city proper, was left relatively unscathed. Mazda saw growth after the bombing, and was a major force in rebuilding Hiroshima throughout the 20th century. After the war, Mazda continued to make rickshaws. In 1960 they produced the R360 a V twin powered Kei Car. They then partnered with German manufacturer NSU to develop Wankel Rotary Engines. The Wankel engine would become synonymous with Mazda up to the 2000’s. Rotary engines made a lot of sense in the Japanese market, because larger displacement engines were subject to a higher road tax. The first rotary powered Mazda Cosmo was produced in 1967. Two of these cars were entered into an 84 hour endurance race at the Nurburgring. One of the Cosmos finished, and came in 4th place, establishing Mazda as a presence in Motorsport and Sports car production. Mazda entered the American market in 1970, and had early success with the RX-3. Which was succeeded by a car you may have heard of, the RX-7. Mazda had a partial merger with Ford in 1979, and together they developed cars, such as the failed Mustang replacement, the Probe. This partnership continued into the 2000’s, where they made some cars that weren’t total sh*t, such as the Mazda 3. 1989 saw the first iteration of the MX-5 Miata, furthering Mazda’s sports car reputation, and pretty much owning the market for small roadsters to this day. In 1991 the third generation “FD” RX-7 was released, a car that many see as a swan song to the rotary engine. The FD could hold its own against GTRs and 911’s of the day, and is one of the sharpest looking designs ever to go into production. Nothing really interesting happened after the FD, soooooo….