At the beginning of the years 90 Mazda held a competition among its engineers, a kind of contest that had the name of Fantasyard. It was to show the ideas more ingenious and creative transportation-related staff. The winner of the competition of 1991 was Yoshimi Kanemoto, who presented a suitcase. It was the Mazda Suitcase Car.
As often happens on many occasions, the vision’s invention came at an unexpected moment. Kanemoto was waiting impatiently for a taxi at the airport and thought it would be fantastic to be able to get off the plane, get a car of your baggage and to go home quietly, and without the wait. Avoiding the motorway, I guess.
In Hiroshima, a team of seven engineers of the japanese constructor will put hands to the work. Bought the suitcase Samsonite larger than found and worked on the project for six months to have your creative idea list for the contest, which they won without discussion.
The prototype was presented to the public at the Frankfurt motor show in 1991. For the Hall of New York of 1992, the extravagant concept japanese worthy of appearing in Cars Rarunos, was exhibited, dressed in the colors of red, white and blue in honor of the american flag.
apart from its practicality, this car in the thumbnail is a genius in himself. The suitcase Mazda has three wheels, an engine, headlights, rear headlights and brake lights, indicators and even a horn. The bare minimum for circular with some security, to see and be seen.
The mounting takes less than a minute. The opening of the suitcase is as simple as moving two aluminum handles, similar to a briefcase standard. Once open simply position the two rear wheels, mount the lights, raise the handlebars, fix the seat and starting the engine. Ready.
When it is folded up and closed just draws attention to the top circular that looks at a side, which is removed to leave a gap for the front wheel. It is the only thing that the difference of a suitcase ordinary. That and a small hole next to the logo of Mazda: it is the output of the exhaust pipe.
The chassis is made of steel which makes the gadget has a weight of 31,7 kg, so much for a suitcase but a very little for a car. The engine of 34 cc and two-stroke is started by pulling a rope as if it were a chainsaw. The propellant 1.7 CV sends its power to the rear axle -in which works a differential through a chain and his bare-bones fuel tank ensured a couple of hours of autonomy.
With their three small wheels and your body-tiny, driving the Mazda Suitcase Car is like taking a kart. Of course the benefits of this microcar japanese are not the same, although it is able to reach the 43 km/h of maximum speed and I’m sure your driving is also fun.
The concept never reached production. The original prototype was destroyed in an accident a few months of its creation. Fortunately in 1994 it was rebuilt by the californian company Road/Race Engineering. The new Suitcase Car kept all the features of the original and is still preserved.
below you can see the appearance of the Mazda Suitcase Car was rebuilt in one of the television programs most popular in the united States of all time: The Oprah Winfrey Show. Issued at the beginning of 1994, in the video it is possible to see how it moves and how it sounds this peculiar car-suitcase:
The Mazda Suitcase Car was also on many other tv slots, especially in the united States. Don’t miss the program auto Ohana Road of Hawaii, where you can see how to perform the mounting of this extravagant device:
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