Remembering Japanese cars from the past
The Mazda Cosmo AP is one of the best looking cars that Mazda produced during the 70s. Its lines consist out of both American and English lines mashed together and its rotary engine reflects the German and Japanese techno-craze.
No wonder this owner drove a Mazda Cosmo AP during his studies in the 80s!
The car had a sad ending: it got driven into a canal in the Ehime Prefecture when the owner tried to avoid a head-on collision.
Found at Minkara
This ad on Marktplaats (Dutch Ebay/Craigslist) really shocked me: a genuine Mazda RX5 with less than 1000 kilometer on the odometer!
Obviously I contacted the seller and he confirmed the car is genuine. It never left the dealership and nobody has owned the car before and it was only used occasionally for a (very) short drive to keep it in good condition!
Now imagine how immaculate this car is: Continue reading
Back in 1976 Mazda happily provided Fuji International Speedway a new official pace car for their Grand Championships:
The Cosmo RE-130AP replaced a Nissan Fairlady 260Z (as seen on the right) and held the crown for a couple of years. I think it is one of the most beautiful pace cars ever!
The initial version had rims that looked like (Bridgestone) Zona Spoke 10 rims but then with four spokes. The the later type in this picture featured the Zona FIN-2 rims. This is a picture of the four spoke design:
Anyone familiar with the Zona Spoke rims and recognizes the four spoke design?
Found at X208’s Mazda Cosmo page (@ Minkara)
In the last month of 1974 Mazda revealed a new revolutionary Luce: the Luce AP! AP stands for Anti Pollution and in 1974 it was really necessary to do something against the bad breath of the rotary engine.
A few months later Mazda revealed the second generation Cosmo with the same acronyms AP. Cleaner cars for the future: that was all that mattered for marketing in the 1970s.
Link to video: Luce AP ad
Of course I would be proud if I would own a Mazda Cosmo AP with 13b rotary engine in the eighties!
Jokers Mazda Cosmo AP 13b
This particular Cosmo AP was owned by one of the members of the Aoyama Jokers and later on this car became one of the most iconic bosozoku styled Cosmo APs known. He swapped the headlights for a set of square headlights and was so fond of it he stood on top of his pride! Definitely something to add to the family album and keep it for future generations!
Found at [Joker’s official blog]
Some time ago I wrote about the Mazda Cosmo AP RX5 in both the popular Bosozoku style car regular and a police car chase with a Cosmo AP when I had too little Seibu Keisatsu. I just found this original Japanese Mazda Cosmo AP ad from the 1976:
I really don’t get the slogan: Now, the smell of Cosmo. I know AP stands for anti pollution so they don’t mean I am supposed to smell the unburnt petrol fumes, so do they actually think that I am supposed to smell something else, flowerlike for example, when the Cosmo AP passes?
Lucky enough it is not too hard to understand the story behind this commercial: those cops are just jealous! Even though they drive the best motorcycles of the world, deep in their heart they really want a Cosmo AP too! So, fast forward 30 years on the cop with the sideburns and mustache and see him standing in his very own Mazda Cosmo AP police special:
If you are interested, I found several other Cosmo AP advertisements:
1978 Mazda Cosmo AP advertisement
1979 Mazda Cosmo AP advertisement
1980 Mazda Cosmo AP advertisement
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