CarGene
Toshihiko Hirai

Toshihiko Hirai

MazdaDevelopment lead

Became chief engineer of the first Roadster in 1986, led its development while introducing 3D CAD to make up for a shortage of staff, and was also chief engineer of the AZ-1

Timeline

  1. 1961

    Joined

    Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. Basic Design Department

  2. 1978

    Mazda Auto IshikawaGeneral Manager, Service Department

  3. 1980

    Vehicle Design DepartmentLeader, Vehicle Design Department

  4. 1986

    Mazda Motor Corporation Product Development DivisionChief engineer, first-generation Roadster

  5. 1989
    Roadster 1st generation (NA)
    Roadster 1st generation (NA)

    1989–1998Development leaduntil Jul. 1993

    Worked with

    A thorny path

    Advanced development was approved at a management meeting in February, and what awaited Hirai, appointed chief engineer, was a thorny path. The project came with the condition of using an overseas development contractor, but he judged that the prototype design drawings sent from the British contractor could not be used to develop a production car, argued for switching to in-house development, and his first job became ending the contract with that company. When the planning and design department refused to help, he appealed directly to Director Matsui of the technical research center and got four or five engineers, but they had no experience at all in layout work. Believing the only way to make up for the shortage of people was with computers, he introduced 3D CAD and had the computer draw the basic layout.

    Chief engineer, AZ-1

  6. 1992
    AZ-1
    AZ-1

    1992–1995Development lead

    Even the Pop-Up Headlights Had to Go

    The AZ-1 was the production version of the AZ550 Sports concept car shown at the Tokyo Motor Show. It had not been designed with realities such as productivity in mind, and its development was extremely difficult. The person entrusted with leading the development when it hit a major wall was Toshihiko Hirai, chief engineer of the first-generation Roadster. To make the AZ-1 work as a sports car, Hirai thoroughly disregarded comfort features that would have had to sacrifice performance, doing away with the trunk, raising the side sills, and using seats that did not recline. He even had the retractable headlights, a symbol of the AZ550 Sports, removed as needless weight that spoiled the balance.

  7. 1993

    Left

    Oita University Department of Production Systems Engineering, Faculty of EngineeringLecturer

  8. 2000

    Hiroshima Bunka Gakuen UniversityPart-time Lecturer

Connections

    Toshihiko Hirai

    Toshihiko Hirai

    • Takao Kijima

      Takao Kijima

      Subordinate

      Kijima, who had been developing truck chassis, joined chief engineer Hirai's development team for the first-generation Roadster and, as "Mr. Hirai's right-hand man", proposed the PPF (Power Plant Frame).

    Profile

    From Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Graduated from Chuo University, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Department of Precision Mechanical Engineering in 1961. Development lead for the first-generation Roadster. He joined Toyo Kogyo, now Mazda, and became program manager for the first-generation Roadster in the product planning and development division. He also served as program manager for the AZ-1. He left Mazda to become a lecturer in the Department of Production Systems Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering at Oita University. He is an inductee of the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame.

    Translated from Japanese sources.

    Mazda engineers

    All Mazda engineers