Originally included in Mazda RX-7 Sports Car Color History, by John Matras, published by Motorbooks International, 1994; republished by the author Just looking at the first-generation RX-7 was enough to provoke speculation about Mazda’s Rotary sportster’s appearance as a convertible. The cockpit styling of the first generation RX-7’s roofline had a break between the body […]
1997 Acura NSX
Originally published in The Complete Road & Track ’97 Car Buyer’s Guide; republished by the author Back in the mid-60’s, a serious sports car had to have its engine in the middle. Lots of reasons were cited for this, things like weight distribution and polar moment of inertia. Mostly it was because race cars were […]
2017 Fiat 124 Spider Lusso quick drive review: Mostly familiar but different
Contemporary first drive review originally published in CarBuzzard, Nov. 1. 2016 There were two things we were worried about with the new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider. One was that it would be too much like the Mazda MX-5 Miata. The other was that it wouldn’t be enough. The Miata and the 124 Spider were, […]
1960 Mazda R360
History originally published in Sport Compact Car October 1996; republished by the author. No matter how fine you hone your products, if the market has moved on to something else, you’re dead. The best widgets in the world are useless if they been replaced by framuses. That was the dilemma facing Toyo Kogyo , as […]
Supercharging to the Rescue: 1994 Toyota Previa S/C
Contemporary new product report/review originally published in Popular Science April 1994; republished by the author It seemed that Toyota had painted itself into a corner. The four-cylinder 2.4-liter 138-horsepower powerplant in its Previa minivan just didn’t have the guts for towing or hauling heavy loads. And the under-the-floor placement simply didn’t allow much room for […]
Dancing With Valves: Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo versus Isuzu Impulse RS
Comparison review originally published in the Road & Track Performance Cars 1991; republished by author Some people might not consider the Isuzu Impulse RS versus the Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo a fair match, putting a 160-bhp car up against a 200-bhp rival costing half again as much. But check the specifications: Both are sports coupes […]
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