Mazda · AZ-1

Mazda AZ-1 (PG6SA)

Years: 1992–1995
Chassis: PG6SA
Drivetrain: MR

Story

A two-seat kei passenger coupe with gull-wing doors, using Japan's first all-plastic outer panels. Its groundbreaking features drew the attention of many young people, but sales did not grow as hoped.

Stories

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.

Toshihiko Hirai

Chassis

Front

Strut

Rear

Strut

Curb weight: 720kg

US import eligibility

Earliest cars: Eligible since October 201725 years after sales began in October 1992
Last cars: Eligible since 202025 years after sales ended in 1995 (month not recorded)

Eligibility depends on each car's month of manufacture on its build plate, not on the sale dates shown here (NHTSA).

Japanese cars by US import year →

Engineers

Toshihiko Hirai

Hometown: Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture

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.