User:Autozam AZ-1/sandbox

The Autozam AZ-1, known by the framecode PG6SA, is a mid-engined kei-class sports car, designed and manufactured by Mazda under its Autozam brand.

Manufactured from October 1992 to October 1994, the AZ-1 was noted for its gullwing doors. Power came from the same Suzuki-sourced 657 cc turbocharged engine used by the Suzuki Alto that produced 64 PS at 6500 rpm and 85 Nm at 4000 rpm.

Suzuki later produced its own badge engineered version named the Suzuki Cara (PG6SS).

Early design work - W140
The AZ-1 began in early 1985 as project W140: a design exercise to develop a kei sports car. Early concepts drew inspiration from several sources, such as the mid-engined concept for the Eunos Roadster, which had been rejected the year before in 1984. From his early sketches, lead designer Yujiro Daikoku created three 1/5-scale clay models : a coupe with an RX-7-inspired rear window, a futuristic notchback coupe with seamless glass, and finally a doorless speedster concept derived from a sketch by a designer working under him (Hiroshi Takezawa) ; named 140A, 140B, and 140C respectively. Of the three, 140B was selected for development, and a 1/1-scale clay model was created, featuring conventional doors, and placeholder MX-04 badging.

From the clay model, the lead development engineer Akira Shimokune began developing a running prototype, with the intention of convincing Mazda management to approve the car by showing a working example - the same approach used by the NA Eunos Roadster. Immediately it was apparent that getting in and out of the low car was difficult, especially with the high sills, and the doorless concept wouldn't provide sufficient rigidity, so gullwing doors were adopted to make the door opening larger. The running prototype used the 550cc turbocharged engine and transmission from the Daihatsu Mira TR-XX, and front suspension from a Suzuki Alto Works mounted on both axles. In April 1987, the running W140 prototype was complete, and in May it was shown to Mazda management in a prototype review.

The prototype was received positively, and management gave the team approval to prepare 3 concept cars for the 28th Tokyo Motor Show. Work began immediately on creating the other versions to present at the show.

28th Tokyo Motor Show - AZ550
With the W140 project being granted 3 spots at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show, the team had 2 years to refine the running prototype and address the weaknesses in the design. Some examples include:
 * Insufficient cooling. This was addressed by adding an air intake on each side of the vehicle to draw air into the engine bay, and modifying the vent on the engine cover.
 * Unstable headlight mounting. The running prototype had compact periscopic headlights, but in practice they wobbled from side to side as they were raised and lowered, so these were replaced with conventional flip-up headlights.
 * Cabin heat. The running prototype had no air conditioning, no fan, and the windows could not be rolled down. A small "ticket window" was added to the doors to allow a portion of the window to roll down, and an air conditioning system was added. Because the front of the car is flat, with no crease at the base of the windscreen, there is no high pressure zone in the windscreen cowl to act as a convenient inlet as in most cars, so a bonnet scoop was added to supply cabin air.

In April 1988, the team moved to Mazda's Product Headquarters, which usually hosted project teams for production cars, and this was seen by the team members as a sign that the car could be approved for production. However, in its current state, the car was a mixture of parts from multiple manufacturers, with Suzuki suspension and a Daihatsu engine, which would not be tolerated in a mass produced car. Developing new parts was ruled out, as the project had a small budget and was not expected to be a high-volume car. Using existing Mazda parts was also not an option, as the only kei car parts available in-house were for the Mazda Porter truck. In the end, it came down to a decision between Daihatsu and Suzuki, and Suzuki was chosen partly due to the smooth running of their collaboration on the Mazda Carol, and partly because their new Alto Works model provided a more powerful engine and attractive suspension components.

In August 1988, the team met with Suzuki executives from Hamamatsu at the Mazda Technical Research Centre in Yokohama to discuss a parts supply agreement. To help convince them, the W140 team had already converted the running prototype to using the Suzuki parts, with the F5B DOHC turbo now powering the prototype. To paraphrase the lead engineer Akira Shimokune, "rather than just eating a drawing of a rice cake, they could eat the real thing". Within 3 days, Suzuki accepted the agreement, but with the condition that if the car goes into production, Suzuki could also sell the car under their brand. At this time, Suzuki (unbeknownst to Mazda) were developing the rival Cappuccino, so they did not require much convincing on the concept of a kei sports car.

Next there was the issue of the aluminium chassis. In 1989, Mazda was in talks with Sumitomo Light Metal Industries to investigate mass production with the aluminium. However, despite the car eventually being displayed at the show with the chassis, the team had already decided that the production version would use conventional steel, for several reasons: In the end, despite Sumitomo's enthusiasm, and their offer to wear the development costs of a new automated aluminium welding system themselves, the development team was instructed from Mazda management to "go with steel".
 * The car already had many unconventional features, such as the midship layout and gullwing doors, so the team felt the project was already at risk of being seen as a distraction.
 * Aluminium welding technology in the 80s was not sufficiently controllable, and the team could not guarantee the quality of the machine welds.

Finally, in March 1989, Toshihiko Hirai took over as the project leader. On his very first day on the project, he ordered the removal of the pop-up headlights, for several reasons:
 * The heavy headlight units at the extreme front of the car would increase the yaw moment of inertia of the car.
 * Due to the small kei car dimensions, the headlights were very exposed, so that even a small impact at the front would cause them to break (in contrast to the MX-5, which he approved headlights for, but which had them mounted further back, out of harms way).
 * The unit cost. The car was already shaping up to be very expensive for a kei car, so there was a need to bring the price back down.
 * General weight savings. Toshihiko Hirai disagreed with his predecessor's decision to scrap the aluminium chassis, and he felt that the car with its steel frame was starting to become too compromised. The team was even investigating adding an additional row of seating to make the car a 2+2 layout, and Hirai felt that the project was getting too far from its design goal of "the ultimate handling machine" with these distractions.

Suzuki prototypes
The proposal for the AZ-1 goes as far back as 1985 when Suzuki created the Suzuki RS/1 as a mid-engine sports car project for volume production. Suzuki's design for the Tokyo Motor Show was more than just a design exercise, they designed a fully functional car with a front/rear weight distribution of 45:55, powered by a modified 1.3-liter G13B engine borrowed from the Cultus GTi.

This was followed up by the Tatsumi Fukunaga-designed RS/3, unveiled for the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show. This version of the car retained many of its design features of the predecessor, but many of its design features were modified to meet Japanese safety regulations as well as for practicality. However, the project was abandoned in favor of the roadster project they had been working on, named later the Cappuccino.

Mazda's design team, led by Toshihiko Hirai, who was also responsible for the MX-5, took over the design project, despite having a limited budget and capacity.

Mazda prototypes
The redesigned cars, constructed in tube frame with floors and bulkheads constructed from aluminium honeycomb, clad in three different body styles constructed in fiberglass. The cars were constructed around the Kei car regulations of the time (maximum length 126 in, maximum engine capacity 550 cc), until this was changed for the following March, hence its model name, AZ-550 Sports.

First introduced at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show as the AZ-550 with three versions.

The Type A was a red sports car with pop-up headlights, front air vent and a distinctive Ferrari Testarossa inspired side strakes but most distinctive of all design features were the gull-wing doors.

The Type B, themed as "High-tuned pure sports", was inspired by the trends in the tuning industry and in current concept car design, featuring greenhouse pyramid roof without a rearward sweep to the C-pillar. It had a racing car inspired interior, unlike Type A, it was aiming for the rough and spartan look and was the only model that a more conventional forward door hinging. It featured a pair of bulging headlamps and incorporated dual mufflers.

The Type C, had a more distinctive body design as it was inspired by Mazda's Group C sports prototype racers, incorporating its signature colour scheme of blue on white and its number it bore at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Featuring a bigger air intake than the former two, venting to the forward-positioned radiator and exits it along the front rim of the cowl. There are many design cues typical to an endurance racer such as the wing mirror and BBS style brake-cooling wheel discs. Compared to the Type B, this version was far more spartan in comparison.

Pre-production
As the cars were well received by the visiting public and the motoring press, Mazda executives decided on production of the car. Although Type C was the better received of the three, it was the Type A which was given the greenlight by executives as they believed that it would be the one most commercially accepted by the buying public. The Type A would only receive a minor design alteration prior to production, as the pop-up headlights were dropped in favour of fixed units, purely for structural rigidity reasons. The front air vent was the other design alteration made to the car prior to production.

Nonetheless, the car took three years to get into production as the engineering team changed the car's internal skeleton frame to steel to allow for further rigidity. The dashboard design was also changed, to a less futuristic but still sporting look.

Much of the development work was carried out in the United Kingdom despite the fact that the car was never intended for sale outside Japan.

Production
The car was made available to the buying public in January 1992, with two color options, Siberia Blue and Classic Red. Both colors came with Venetian Gray lower panels. Each car was sold through the Autozam dealer network in Japan.

Unfortunately by the time car came into production, the recession in Japan had just come into force. Selling for 1,498 million ¥ (the equivalent of $12,400), it was slightly less than a Eunos Roadster, but marginally higher than its competitor, the Honda Beat selling at 1,388 million ¥ and the Suzuki Cappuccino at ¥1,458 million, the AZ-1 was considered to be both too expensive and too cramped for a kei car. The car failed to sell within its target of 800 per month, in the midst of an economic recession. Production of the car ended after the following year, but Mazda had plenty of stock to sell off.

With a total production of 4,392 over a year, plus 531 Suzuki Cara, compared to 28,010 Cappuccinos and 33,600 Beats (both with production reaching into the latter half of the 1990s).

Alternative versions
In a bid to shift unsold stock, Mazda made an effort to produce special versions. First to come was the Type L option, featuring an enhanced audio system including a sub-woofer in the boot. There were no exterior changes made to the car.

Mazdaspeed
Mazda also introduced the Mazdaspeed version to showcase the parts that were available for the car, the A-spec, the body kit features an enhanced hood, front spoiler and rear wing. Unlike the production version, the car came in an all-red or blue body color. It also came with a host of options including shock absorbers with sports spring sets, strut bars for the front and rear, mechanical LSD, enhanced air filter and a stainless steel and ceramic muffler. It also came with its own brand of alloy wheels as opposed to the production's steel wheels.

M2 1015
For 1994, There was also the M2 1015 by M2 Incorporated. The most distinguishing part of the car is the front fog lights incorporated into the bonnet, and the all-new front bumper and rear spoiler. The car came in three different colours: white, black and silver. Like the Mazdaspeed version, the car was painted entirely in a single color.

Fifty were to be produced and sold by the M2 dealer, but they only managed to sell about half of its stock. The dealer covered their losses by selling the body parts individually. A genuine "M2 1015" can be identified by the rear emblem stating the version name.

Suzuki Cara

 * See Suzuki Cara in Japanese Wikipedia

The AZ-1 was also sold by Suzuki as the Cara, with only minor detail changes including the addition of fog lamps.

Other versions
Although the M2 1015 was the only version sold by M2, they also created other versions purely for show purposes and to test market their cars.

M2 1014 was a one-off off-road inspired car built for the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show with design cues coming from the Lamborghini Cheetah. M2 1015A is a rally inspired featuring auxiliaries of a rally car including a pair of spotlights detached on the bottom of the bonnet. The M2 1015B incorporated a detachable top roof, instead of being constructed of glass, it was constructed in plastic.

In 1996, renowned tuning company and rotary specialist, RE Amemiya produced another one-off example for the Tokyo Auto Salon, called the GReddy VI-AZ1 (named after its long-term partner, the sixth incarnation of their partnership project car), it was influenced by the AZ-550 Type-C but longer and wider, incorporating a 20B three rotor Wankel engine, mounted longitudinally. The only part of the car that has traces of the original AZ-1 is the gullwing door. The car uses suspension parts produced by Bilstein that can be found in a Porsche 962 and the brakes from a Ferrari F40. The car was rebuilt again in 2000 with the car now resprayed to white, also a wing replacing the ducktail spoiler of the original, also replaced was the tire with a slightly wider version, brakes are replaced by those from a Ferrari F50.

There was also a one-off version built in 1996 named Abarth Scorpione commissioned by Shiro Kosaka, a renowned collector of Abarth sports cars. This car has unique bodywork featuring numerous design cues from its rare namesake, although the genuine car in fact features conventional opening doors. The car was entirely rebodied at a cost of one million yen for the body alone, plus another million yen for painting and fitting. For further details refer to this article (Japanese).