Autozam AZ-1
Encyclopedia
The Autozam AZ-1, known as the framecode PG6SA, is a mid-engined
two-seat sports
coupé
kei car
, designed and manufactured by Suzuki
but sold by Mazda
under its Autozam
brand. It debuted in October 1992 until production ceased in 1994, and was perhaps most noted for its gullwing doors. Power came from the same Suzuki
-sourced 657 cc turbocharged engine used by the Mazda Carol
that produced 64 PS (47 kW) at 6500 rpm and 85 N·m (63 ft·lbf) at 4000 rpm. Suzuki produced its own badge engineered version named the Suzuki Cara (PG6SS). The car is also popular as a grey import in some markets, and has been converted to left-hand drive for the Canadian and other left hand drive markets.
created the Suzuki RS/1 as a midship sports car project for volume production. Suzuki went as far to design the car for the Tokyo Motor Show more than just a design exercise, they designed the car to be functional with a front/rear weight distribution
of 45:55. powered by a 1.3 liter G13A engine
from the Cultus
.
This was followed up by the Tatsumi Fukunaga designed RS/3, unveiled for the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, retaining many of its design features of the predecessor but many of its design features were worked on to meet Japanese safety regulations as well as being a practical sports car. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned in favor of the roadster project they had been working on, named later as the Cappuccino.
Mazda's design team, led by Toshiko Hirai, who was also responsible for the MX-5
, took over the design project, despite having a limited budget and capacity.
with floors and bulkhead
s constructed from aluminium
honeycomb
, clad in three different bodystyles constructed in fibreglass. The cars were constructed around the Kei car
regulation of the time (maximum length 126 inches (3,200 mm), 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. First one of these, the Type A was a red sports car with pop-up headlights
, front air vent and a distinctive Ferrari Testarossa
inspired side strake
s but most distinctive of all design features were the gull-wing door
s.
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 headlamp
s and incorporated dual muffler
s.
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 disc
s. Compared to the Type B, this version was far more spartan in comparison.
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.
Much of the development work was in the United Kingdom
despite it was never intended to be sold outside 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 too expensive and too cramped, both for a kei car, the car failed to sell within its target of 800 per month, even in the midst of an economic recession
, production of the car ended after the following year, but Mazda had plenty of stocks to shift off.
With the total production of 4,392 over a year, plus 531 for the Cara version (mentioned later in the article) to 28,010 to the Cappuccino and 33,600 for the Beat, both with production reaching into the latter half of the 1990s; this makes the AZ-1 the rarest of the kei sports car.
version to showcase the parts that were available for the car, the A-spec, the body kit
features an enhanced bonnet, front spoiler
and rear wing. Unlike the production version, the car came in an all-red or blue body colour. 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 wheel
s as opposed to the production's steel wheels.
. The most distinguishing part of the car is the front fog lights incorporated into the bonnet, all new front bumper and rear spoiler. The car came in three different colours white, black and silver, like the Mazdaspeed version, the car came entirely painted.
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 its loss by selling the body parts individually. A genuine "M2 1015" can be identified by the rear emblem stating the version name.
The AZ-1 was also sold by Suzuki
as the Cara, with only minor detail changes including the addition of fog lamps.
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 6th 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
. The car have since then been sold on to a private owner in Japan.
There was also a one off version built in 1996 named Abarth Scorpione commissioned by Shiro Kosaka, a renowned collector of Abarth
sports cars, with numerous design cues from its genuine and rare namesake. The car is entirely rebodied at a cost of ¥1 million for the body alone, plus another ¥1 million for painting and fitting. The genuine car in fact feature a conventional opening doors. For further details refer to this article (Japanese)
. The car, known as CV-1 Striker EX was driven by team leader Shou Narumi. The car, distinctive by the roll cage
mounted outside the car, featured a combination titanium
alloy
, Tungsten
steel
and carbon fiber
for body armour and features bulletproof glass
. Its gas turbine
engine propelled the car up to 312 km/h.
MR layout
In automotive design, a RMR or Rear Mid-engine, Rear-wheel drive layout is one in which the rear wheels are driven by an engine placed just in front of them, behind the passenger compartment. In contrast to the rear-engined RR layout, the center of mass of the engine is in front of the rear axle...
two-seat sports
Sports car
A sports car is a small, usually two seat, two door automobile designed for high speed driving and maneuverability....
coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
kei car
Kei car
Kei cars, K-cars, or , are a Japanese category of small vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks. They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is...
, designed and manufactured by Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
but sold by Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
under its Autozam
Autozam
In the late 1980s, Mazda diversified in the Japan market with the launch of three new marques. The company created Autozam, Eunos, and Efini, in addition to the Mazda and Ford brands already marketed there. This experiment was ended in the mid-1990s....
brand. It debuted in October 1992 until production ceased in 1994, and was perhaps most noted for its gullwing doors. Power came from the same Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
-sourced 657 cc turbocharged engine used by the Mazda Carol
Mazda Carol
The Mazda Carol is a name used by Mazda for its kei cars from 1962 until 1970. It was revived again with Mazda's 1989 reentry into the Kei car class.-Carol :...
that produced 64 PS (47 kW) at 6500 rpm and 85 N·m (63 ft·lbf) at 4000 rpm. Suzuki produced its own badge engineered version named the Suzuki Cara (PG6SS). The car is also popular as a grey import in some markets, and has been converted to left-hand drive for the Canadian and other left hand drive markets.
Suzuki prototypes
The proposal for the AZ-1 goes as far back as 1985 when SuzukiSuzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
created the Suzuki RS/1 as a midship sports car project for volume production. Suzuki went as far to design the car for the Tokyo Motor Show more than just a design exercise, they designed the car to be functional with a front/rear weight distribution
Weight distribution
Weight distribution is the apportioning of weight within a vehicle, especially cars, airplanes, and trains.In a vehicle which relies on gravity in some way, weight distribution directly affects a variety of vehicle characteristics, including handling, acceleration, traction, and component life...
of 45:55. powered by a 1.3 liter G13A engine
Suzuki G engine
The Suzuki G engine is a type of internal combustion engine manufactured by Suzuki Motor Corporation for various automobiles, primarily based on the GM M platform, including the:* Holden Barina...
from the Cultus
Suzuki Cultus
The Suzuki Cultus is a supermini first presented at the 25th Tokyo Motor Show, formally introduced to the Japanese domestic market in 1983 and ultimately manufactured in seven countries across three generations and marketed worldwide under more than a dozen nameplates — prominently as the Suzuki...
.
This was followed up by the Tatsumi Fukunaga designed RS/3, unveiled for the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show, retaining many of its design features of the predecessor but many of its design features were worked on to meet Japanese safety regulations as well as being a practical sports car. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned in favor of the roadster project they had been working on, named later as the Cappuccino.
Mazda's design team, led by Toshiko Hirai, who was also responsible for the MX-5
Mazda MX-5
The MX-5, also known as Miata in North America and Eunos Roadster in Japan, is a lightweight two-seater roadster, of front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, built by Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan. The model was introduced in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show...
, took over the design project, despite having a limited budget and capacity.
Mazda prototypes
The redesigned cars, constructed in tube frameTube frame
Tube frame may refer to:*Tube , a structure designed to act like a three-dimensional hollow tube so to resist lateral loads*Space frame or space structure, a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern*Superleggera, sometimes referred to as a...
with floors and bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
s constructed from aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
honeycomb
Honeycomb
A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal waxcells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey...
, clad in three different bodystyles constructed in fibreglass. The cars were constructed around the Kei car
Kei car
Kei cars, K-cars, or , are a Japanese category of small vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and pickup trucks. They are designed to comply with Japanese government tax and insurance regulations, and in most rural areas are exempted from the requirement to certify that adequate parking is...
regulation of the time (maximum length 126 inches (3,200 mm), 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
Tokyo Motor Show
The is a biennial auto show held in October-November at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , it is a recognized international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs...
as the AZ-550 with three versions. First one of these, the Type A was a red sports car with pop-up headlights
Hidden headlamps
Hidden headlamps, also commonly known as pop-up headlamps or headlights, are an automotive styling feature that conceals an automobile's headlamps when they are not in use...
, front air vent and a distinctive Ferrari Testarossa
Ferrari Testarossa
The Ferrari Testarossa is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer...
inspired side strake
Strake
A strake is part of the shell of the hull of a boat or ship which, in conjunction with the other strakes, keeps the sea out and the vessel afloat...
s but most distinctive of all design features were the gull-wing door
Gull-wing door
Gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing car doors that are hinged at the roof rather than the side, as pioneered by the 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL race car and its road-legal version introduced in 1954....
s.
Type B, themed as "High-tuned pure sports", was inspired by the trends in the tuning industry and in current concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
design, featuring greenhouse pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
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 headlamp
Headlamp
A headlamp is a lamp, usually attached to the front of a vehicle such as a car or a motorcycle, with the purpose of illuminating the road ahead during periods of low visibility, such as darkness or precipitation. Headlamp performance has steadily improved throughout the automobile age, spurred by...
s and incorporated dual muffler
Muffler
A muffler is a device for reducing the amount of noise emitted by the exhaust of an internal combustion engine. A US Patent for an Exhaust muffler for engines was granted to Milton and Marshall Reeves in 1897....
s.
Type C, had a more distinctive body design as it was inspired by Mazda's Group C
Group C
Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
sports prototype racers
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
, incorporating its signature colour scheme of blue on white and its number it bore at the 24 hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
. 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
BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG
BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG is a high performance automobile wheel design company headquartered in Schiltach, Germany. BBS serves North America through BBS of America, located in Braselton, Georgia, adjacent to the Road Atlanta Racetrak...
style brake-cooling wheel disc
Hubcap
A hubcap, wheel cover or wheel trim is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel that covers at least a central portion of the wheel. Cars with stamped steel wheels often use a full wheel cover that conceals the entire wheel. Cars with alloy wheels or styled steel wheels generally use smaller...
s. 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 Type A that was given the greenlight by executives as they believed that it would be the model that would become the most commercially accepted by the buying public of them all. The Type A would only receive a minor design alteration prior to production as the pop-up was dropped in favour of the fixed unit, purely for structural rigidity reason. The front air vent was the other design alteration made to the car prior to production.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.
Much of the development work was in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
despite it was never intended to be sold outside Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Production
The car was made available to the buying public on September 1992, with two colour options, Siberia Blue and Classic Red, both came with Venetian Gray lower panels. Each cars were sold through the Autozam dealer network in Japan.Unfortunately by the time car came into production, the recession in Japan
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991, in which real estate and stock prices were greatly inflated. The bubble's collapse lasted for more than a decade with stock prices initially bottoming in 2003, although they would descend even further amidst the global crisis in 2008. The...
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
Honda Beat
The Honda Beat is a rear mid-engined two-seat roadster kei car produced from in May 1991 to February 1996. The Beat was the last car to be approved by Soichiro Honda before he died in 1991. The total number of cars produced was around 33,600. Most of the production occurred in the first year, and...
selling at 1,388 million ¥ and the Suzuki Cappuccino
Suzuki Cappuccino
The Suzuki Cappuccino is a small 2-door, 2-seater demountable hardtop roadster produced by Suzuki Motor Corporation. The vehicle was designed to meet Kei car specifications for lower tax and insurance in Japan. Weighing just , the Cappuccino is powered by a turbocharged, three-cylinder, 657 cc DOHC...
at 1,458 million ¥, the AZ-1 was considered to be too expensive and too cramped, both for a kei car, the car failed to sell within its target of 800 per month, even in the midst of an economic recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
, production of the car ended after the following year, but Mazda had plenty of stocks to shift off.
With the total production of 4,392 over a year, plus 531 for the Cara version (mentioned later in the article) to 28,010 to the Cappuccino and 33,600 for the Beat, both with production reaching into the latter half of the 1990s; this makes the AZ-1 the rarest of the kei sports car.
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 MazdaspeedMazdaspeed
Mazdaspeed is Mazda's in-house race and street car tuning arm. It began in 1968 as "Mazda Sports Corner", a tuning and racing operation run by Takayoshi Ohashi, who also ran Mazda's Tokyo distributor...
version to showcase the parts that were available for the car, the A-spec, the body kit
Body kit
A body kit or bodykit is a collection of exterior modifications to a car, typically composed of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers,paint jobs, and sometimes front and rear side guards and roof scoops. There are many companies that offer alternatives to the original factory appearance of...
features an enhanced bonnet, front spoiler
Spoiler (automotive)
A spoiler is an automotive aerodynamic device whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air movement across a body of a vehicle in motion. Spoilers on the front of a vehicle are often called air dams, because in addition to directing air flow they also reduce the amount of air...
and rear wing. Unlike the production version, the car came in an all-red or blue body colour. It also came with a host of options including shock absorbers with sports spring
Spring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
sets, strut bars for the front and rear, mechanical LSD
Limited slip differential
A limited slip differential is a type of differential gear arrangement that allows for some difference in angular velocity of the output shafts, but imposes a mechanical bound on the disparity...
, enhanced air filter
Air filter
A particulate air filter is a device composed of fibrous materials which removes solid particulates such as dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria from the air. A chemical air filter consists of an absorbent or catalyst for the removal of airborne molecular contaminants such as volatile organic compounds...
and a stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
and ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
muffler. It also came with its own brand of alloy wheel
Alloy wheel
Alloy wheels are automobile wheels which are made from an alloy of aluminium or magnesium. They are typically lighter for the same strength...
s as opposed to the production's steel wheels.
M2 1015
For 1994, There was also the M2 1015 by M2 IncorporatedM2 (Mazda)
M2 Incorporated is a former automobile manufacturer and group company of the Mazda Motor Corporation. The company has existed from 1991 to 1995 and was also known under its nickname Mazda Two. The official brand name was M2. M2 was responsible for the development ant the production of vehicle parts...
. The most distinguishing part of the car is the front fog lights incorporated into the bonnet, all new front bumper and rear spoiler. The car came in three different colours white, black and silver, like the Mazdaspeed version, the car came entirely painted.
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 its loss 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
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
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 the dealer, M2 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
Tokyo Motor Show
The is a biennial auto show held in October-November at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Japan for cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Hosted by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association , it is a recognized international show by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs...
with design cues coming from the Lamborghini Cheetah
Lamborghini Cheetah
The Lamborghini Cheetah was an off-road prototype built in 1977 for the Italian carmaker Lamborghini.- History :The Lamborghini Cheetah was Lamborghini's first attempt at an off-road vehicle. It was built on contract from Mobility Technology International, which in turn was contracted by the US...
. M2 1015A is a rally inspired featuring auxiliaries of a rally car including a pair of spotlights
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
detached on the bottom of the bonnet. The M2 1015B incorporated a detachable top roof, instead of being constructed of glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
, it was constructed in plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
.
In 1996, renowned tuning company and rotary specialist, RE Amemiya
RE Amemiya
is an automotive tuning company from Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan founded by Isami Amemiya. Amemiya has made a name for himself tuning rotary engines since 1974 and has become a pioneer in tuning rotary-powered Mazdas...
produced another one off example for the Tokyo Auto Salon
Tokyo Auto Salon
The is an annual auto show held in January at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Japan for Performance and custom dress-up parts and technology display. Hosted by the Nippon Auto Parts Aftermarket Committee ....
, called the GReddy
GReddy
is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company specialising in performance tuning parts for cars. The company is widely known for its subbrand of tuning parts GReddy and the turbochargers under this brand.-The Trust Company:...
VI-AZ1 (named after its long-term partner, the 6th 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
Longitudinal engine
In automotive engineering, a longitudinal engine is an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicle, front to back....
. 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
Porsche 962
The Porsche 962 was a sports-prototype racing car built by Porsche as a replacement for the 956 and designed mainly to comply with IMSA's GTP regulations, although it would later compete in the European Group C formula as the 956 had...
and the brakes from a Ferrari F40
Ferrari F40
The Ferrari F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door coupé sports car produced by Ferrari from 1987 to 1992 as the successor to the Ferrari 288 GTO. From 1987 to 1989 it was Ferrari's fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car...
. The car was rebuilt again in 2000 with the car now resprayed to white, also a wing
Wing (automotive)
(for the panels around the wheels of a car see Fender (vehicle)A wing in this context is an aerodynamic device intended to generate downforce on an automobile. The first production car to feature a rear wing was the 1969 mercury cyclone spoiler, soon followed by the drastically larger Superbird and...
replacing the ducktail spoiler
Spoiler (automotive)
A spoiler is an automotive aerodynamic device whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air movement across a body of a vehicle in motion. Spoilers on the front of a vehicle are often called air dams, because in addition to directing air flow they also reduce the amount of air...
of the original, also replaced was the tire with a slightly wider version, brakes are replaced by those from a Ferrari F50
Ferrari F50
The Ferrari F50 is a mid-engined range-topping sports car made by Ferrari. The F50 was introduced in 1995 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. The car is a two door, two seat convertible with a removable hardtop...
. The car have since then been sold on to a private owner in Japan.
There was also a one off version built in 1996 named Abarth Scorpione commissioned by Shiro Kosaka, a renowned collector of Abarth
Abarth
Abarth is an Italian racing car maker founded by Austrian-Italian Carlo Abarth and Italian Armando Scagliarini in Turin in 1949. Its logo depicts a stylized scorpion on a red and yellow background.- History :...
sports cars, with numerous design cues from its genuine and rare namesake. The car is entirely rebodied at a cost of ¥1 million for the body alone, plus another ¥1 million for painting and fitting. The genuine car in fact feature a conventional opening doors. For further details refer to this article (Japanese)
Blue SWAT
An AZ-1 was built for the Metal Hero Series Blue SWATBlue SWAT
is the thirteenth installment in the Metal Hero Series. It ran from January 30, 1994 to January 29, 1995 for a total of 51 episodes and one theatrical film, aired as part of the 1994 Manga Matsuri, which compiled episodes 1 and 2...
. The car, known as CV-1 Striker EX was driven by team leader Shou Narumi. The car, distinctive by the roll cage
Roll cage
A roll cage is a specially constructed frame built in the cab of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured in an accident, particularly in the event of a roll-over. Roll cages are used in nearly all purpose-built racecars, and in most cars modified for racing...
mounted outside the car, featured a combination titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
, Tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
and carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
for body armour and features bulletproof glass
Bulletproof glass
Bulletproof glass is a type of strong but optically transparent material that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets, but is not completely impenetrable. It is usually made from a combination of two or more types of glass, one hard and one soft...
. Its gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
engine propelled the car up to 312 km/h.