Mazda’s designers had very different ideas of how the new Mazda roadster should look.
The ND generation Mazda MX-5 Miata is on sale in the United States for over a year and has received glowing reviews. Mazda is taking a look at the design process behind its convertible now that it has made a name for itself in the sports car market. It’s packed with over 100 photos that show a variety of ideas for the new model. This is a fascinating look into what it takes to bring a car on the road.
In 2011, Mazda designers from Japan and the United States joined forces to create the new Miata. Masashi Nakayama was the chief designer, while Ikuo Maeda, Mazda’s global head for design, oversaw all aspects of the project. The new model has a mix of sharp edges and gentle curves. However, it was not just two people who were responsible.
From the beginning, the company wanted to build a modern roadster that was as large and heavy as the original Miata. The designers had to design a vehicle that appealed to new customers, but not to old fans. This was a challenging task.
The first step was to determine the hard points of the chassis. This involved locating fixed structural elements such as the windshield. After imagining the design of the new Miata, quarter-scale clay models were submitted by the studios from Europe, Japan, and the U.S. In February 2012, further evaluations narrowed down the options to a styling concept from Hiroshima’s team and a shape from Irvine, California.
Unfortunately, neither the Japanese crew nor the American team liked the design of the other group. Mazda’s chief designer Nakayama felt that the American proposal did not capture “raw emotional excitement” in a way that would attract enthusiasts, Mazda posted on its blog . The U.S. team argued that there was too much of the Japanese-designed first-generation car in the Japanese proposal.
They came up with a compromise. They came up with a compromise.