01
Origins
The AZ-1 of 1992 remains the maddest product of Japan's kei-class rules: a mid-engined microcar with genuine gullwing doors, its 657cc Suzuki turbo triple making the class-capped 64 PS in a glassfibre-panelled body barely waist-high. Mazda's Autozam channel sold it; Suzuki supplied mechanicals and sold its own Cara version. The driving experience was scalpel-precise and utterly impractical — luggage fitted in pockets, crosswinds were events — and the bubble economy's collapse crushed sales: around 4,400 in two years, making failure certain and cult status inevitable. With the Beat and Cappuccino it completed the kei sports 'ABC' trinity, and stands today as the most collectible: nobody, before or since, has put gullwings on anything so small and meant it.
MAZDA AZ-1 02 · Taisyo · CC BY-SA 3.0
