Concept Car Of The Day: 1970 Mazda RX-500 - AllCarIndex

Concept Car Of The Day: 1970 Mazda RX-500

Sep 19, 2024

In October 1970, Mazda unveiled the radically angular and streamlined RX500 concept car at the 17th Tokyo Motor Show. The start of the new decade also marked the company's 50th Anniversary and the RX500 was a bold statement of Mazda’s engineering and design ambition. It quickly became a crowd favourite, captivating the public with its futuristic design and technology.

The RX500 looked like a car from a different planet compared to the Cosmo, Luce, and R100 rotary production cars on sale at the time. With its wedge-shaped design, forward opening butterfly swing doors, and 250ps 10A rotary engine accessed by gullwing opening engine covers, it truly stood out. It was also a road safety test bed with multicoloured rear strip lights that indicated the car's speed.

The space-age RX500 generated strong media interest worldwide, and Matchbox recognized its potential. They included it in their ‘Superfast programme’ in response to the introduction of Hot Wheels by Mattel. The orange Matchbox RX500 became a global bestseller, appealing to children in America and beyond.

The RX500 was a one-off concept car that aimed to research the behavior of plastic vehicle bodies and driving dynamics at high speeds. An experimental vehicle was needed, one with a mid-engine, low air resistance, and high downforce. The RX500, designed by Shigenori Fukuda, featured a streamlined Shooting Brake model with a mix of racing and aviation design elements.

Inside the RX500, passengers sat in two bucket seats with a wrap-around dashboard featuring three semi-circular instruments. The car also had futuristic tail lights that provided additional information to other road users for safety. Powered by a two-rotor 10A engine producing 250ps, the RX500 was a supercar concept with a power-to-weight ratio of 3.4kg per horsepower.

Matchbox's miniature version of the RX500 remained on sale for over a decade, with various color versions released in different markets. Today, the sole Mazda RX500 can be seen at the Numaji Transportation Museum in Hiroshima. For collectors, the small model is a popular item, while Spark models offer a detailed diecast version.

The RX500 may have never reached production due to the oil crisis of 1973, but its miniature counterpart remained a success in the toy car world. A tribute to Mazda’s engineering and design ambition, the RX500 concept car lives on through its toy car legacy, reminding us of the bold vision and creativity of its creators.