Takao Kijima
MazdaDevelopment lead
Mr. Roadster, who inherited and upheld the "Jinba Ittai" ideal set out by Toshihiko Hirai
Timeline
- 1967
Joined
Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. Chassis Design Unit 4, Design Department
- 1991
Mazda at Le Mans (787B)until 1991
1991Development team member
- 1992
RX-7 3rd generation1991–2003Development leadfrom 1992
Worked with
- Takaharu KobayakawaDevelopment lead until 1992
"Operation Zero," learned from the Zero fighter
Put in charge of developing the third-generation RX-7, Kijima picked twenty-some people from body, chassis, interior and electrical departments and formed a task force that crossed departmental walls. Its banner was "Operation Zero," eliminating every bit of wasted weight. The model was the Zero fighter, which pursued lightness and low drag with extra super duralumin and flush rivets. The finished RX-7, at about half the price of the NSX and with a partly aluminum body, slightly beat the all-aluminum NSX's time at Tsukuba.
As chief engineer, holding out for 280 hp
Kijima took over as chief engineer of the RX-7 the year after its launch, but the bubble burst and it was decided to end sales in the US. Even while the finance executive who came from Ford questioned almost weekly whether the business could stand on its own, he held out, out of an engineer's pride, for raising output to 280 hp, Japan's upper limit. When the end of production was decided, an unusual ceremony was held at the Ujina plant, and rotary fans gathered from all over the country.
- 1993
Roadster 1st generation (NA)1989–1998Development leadfrom Jul. 1993
Worked with
- Toshihiko HiraiDevelopment lead until Jul. 1993
- Shunji TanakaDesign lead
Drawings made after hours on a drafting board in the parking lot
The first Roadster began as a small in-house project short of both budget and people. Kijima, who was handling the suspensions of trucks and the RX-7, joined Toshihiko Hirai's team and drew plans on weekends and outside working hours on a drafting board he brought into the design division's parking lot. When the department responsible turned down improvements to drivetrain parts, he drew those plans himself too, though they were outside his specialty.
Assembling it himself to get the PPF through
To give shape to Jinba Ittai, Kijima proposed the power plant frame (PPF), which connects the rear of the transmission to the differential, and double wishbones front and rear. The PPF was a first for a Japanese car, but it met resistance from the plant, which built it on the same line as front-wheel-drive cars. Kijima went to the plant and showed that it could be put together in a form even an assembly amateur could assemble, which won over the shop floor.
- 1998
A pass if it sells 70% of the first
Succeeding Toshihiko Hirai, Kijima became chief engineer of the Roadster while also handling the RX-7. Believing the second generation of a big hit often fails, he set his own target of about 280,000 units, about 70% of the first generation. Building on the first generation's design to meet crash-safety and emission regulations and keeping its size almost the same as the first, the second generation sold about 290,000 units and beat the target.
Giving up the design, but not the size
For the second generation's design, the development executive who had come from Ford had asked the US base for a proposal without Kijima knowing. Proposals were also requested from Europe and Hiroshima to compete, but the US proposal, for the market with the most sales, was chosen. Kijima told the designers never to exceed the first generation's dimensions, holding firm on small size and light weight. The second generation was well received not only in the US but also in Europe.
- 2005
Keeping the Roadster light on the RX-8's chassis
After the second generation's launch, he was told to hand the chief engineer role to a younger person, but a few months later the personnel plan was apparently reversed at a management meeting, and he was given the third generation as well. Company policy was for the third generation to share its chassis with the RX-8, about 200 kg heavier. Kijima turned Ford's demand for parts cost reduction under the strong yen to his advantage, persuading management that a dedicated suspension design would raise profits overall. With "Operation Gram," which let not a single gram slip by, he held the weight gain to 10 kg over the second generation despite the larger chassis.
Japan Car of the Year after 23 years
When the development team was launched, Kijima set the goal of a car that could win the Japan Car of the Year, the award the first generation had missed, losing to the Celsior. The year the prototype was finished, he developed Ménière's disease the night before a test drive in the UK and was off work for a month and a half, but development proceeded as planned. The third generation brought Mazda its first Japan Car of the Year in 23 years.
- 2009
Left
Mazda Motor Corporation
- 2010
Tokyo University of Science, Yamaguchi Faculty of EngineeringProfessor
- 2011
AutoExeSupervisor
- 2026
Sportscar Jinba Ittai MuseumDirector
Connections
Takao Kijima
- Subordinate
On the development of the NB Roadster, Yamamoto served as "deputy chief engineer, the chief engineer's right-hand man" and moved development forward under chief engineer Kijima; at Kijima's invitation, he also joined the NC Roadster as deputy chief engineer.
- Superior
Kobayakawa, who as program manager for the RX-7 began development of the third generation, had Kijima serve as its leader, and they took on an all-out weight reduction with "Operation Zero" as their watchword.
- Superior
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).
Tetsuya TadaToyota
AdviseeUnable to get management approval for a sports car, Tada visited Kijima at Mazda in Hiroshima. Kijima replied, "At Mazda, sports cars are decided by the carmaker's pride and the engineers' passion."
Profile
From Yoshinogawa, Tokushima Prefecture. Graduated from Tokushima Prefectural Tokushima Higashi Technical High School. A former Mazda engineer. He became program manager for the first-generation Roadster when Toshihiko Hirai left, and afterwards served as program manager for the second- and third-generation Roadster and for the third-generation RX-7. He is a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at Sanyo-Onoda City University.
Translated from Japanese sources.
Mazda engineers
- Koichi HayashiRoadster
- Ikuo MaedaRX-8
- Noboru KatabuchiRX-8
- Yasushi NakamutaRoadster
- Takeshi ArakawaAZ-3
- Toshihiko HiraiRoadster / AZ-1
- Iwao KoizumiCosmo
- Shunji TanakaRoadster