Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd, founded in Japan in 1920. Toyo Cork Kogyo renamed itself to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927. Toyo Kogyo moved from manufacturing machine tools to vehicles, with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931. Toyo Kogyo produced weapons for the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, most notably the series 30 through 35 Type 99 rifle. The company formally adopted the Mazda name in 1984, though every automobile sold from the beginning bore that name. The Mazda R360 was introduced in 1960, followed by the Mazda Carol in 1962.

Mazda Cosmo Sport

Beginning in the 1960s, Mazda put a major engineering effort into development of the Wankel rotary engine as a way of differentiating themselves from other Japanese auto companies. Beginning with the limited-production Cosmo Sport of 1967 and continuing to the present day with the RX-8, Mazda has become the sole manufacturer of Wankel-type engines mainly by way of attrition (NSU and Citroën both gave up on the design during the 1970s, and prototype Corvette efforts by General Motors never made it to production.)


This effort to bring attention to themselves apparently helped, as Mazda rapidly began to export its vehicles. Both piston-powered and rotary-powered models made their way around the world. The rotary models quickly became popular for their combination of good power and light weight when compared to piston-engined competitors that required a heavy V6 or V8 engine to produce the same power. The R100 and the famed RX series (RX-2, RX-3, and RX-4) led the company's export efforts.

During 1968 Mazda started formal operations in Canada (MazdaCanada) although Mazdas were seen in Canada as early as 1959. In 1970, Mazda formally entered the American market (Mazda North American Operations) and was very successful there, going so far as to create the Mazda Rotary Pickup (based on the conventional piston-powered B-Series model) solely for North American buyers. To this day, Mazda remains the only automaker to have produced a Wankel-powered pickup truck. Additionally, they are also the only marque to have ever offered a rotary-powered bus (the Mazda Parkway, offered only in Japan) or station wagon (within the RX-3 line).


Mazda's rotary success continued until the onset of the 1973 oil crisis. As American buyers (as well as those in other nations) quickly turned to vehicles with better fuel efficiency, the relatively thirsty rotary-powered models began to fall out of favor. Wisely, the company had not totally turned its back on piston engines, as they continued to produce a variety of four-cylinder models throughout the 1970s. The smaller Familia line in particular became very important to Mazda's worldwide sales after 1973, as did the somewhat larger Capella series.
 Mazda RX-7 (first generation)

Not wishing to abandon the rotary engine entirely, Mazda refocused their efforts and made it a choice for the sporting motorist rather than a mainstream powerplant. Starting with the lightweight RX-7 in 1978 and continuing with the modern RX-8, Mazda has continued its dedication to this unique powerplant. This switch in focus also resulted in the development of another lightweight sports car, the piston-powered Mazda Roadster (perhaps better known by its worldwide names as the MX-5 or Miata), inspired by the concept 'jinba ittai'. Introduced in 1989 to worldwide acclaim, the Roadster has been widely credited with reviving the concept of the small sports car after its decline in the late 1970s.
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History
Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari (literally "Ferrari Stable", and usually used to mean "Team Ferrari", it is correctly pronounced [skudeˈria] "skoo-deh-REE-ah") in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Ferrari prepared, and successfully raced, various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was hired by Alfa Romeo to head their motor racing department.
In 1941, Alfa Romeo was confiscated by the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini as part of the Axis Powers' war effort. Enzo Ferrari's division was small enough to be unaffected by this. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for four years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Also known as SEFAC (Scuderia Enzo Ferrari Auto Corse), Ferrari did in fact produce one race car, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period. It was the first actual Ferrari car (it debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia), but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed by the Allies in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946, after the war ended, and included a works for road car production. Until Il Commendatore's death, this would remain little more than a source of funding for his first love, racing.
166MM Barchetta 212/225.The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo Ferrari reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund Scuderia Ferrari.[citation needed] While his beautiful and fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers.[citation needed]
In 1988, Enzo Ferrari oversaw the launch of the Ferrari F40, the last new Ferrari to be launched before his death later that year, and arguably one of the most famous supercars ever made.
On May 17, 2009 in Maranello, Italy, a 1957 250 Testa Rossa (TR) was auctioned, by RM Auctions and Sotheby's, for $12.1 Million - a world record at that time for the most expensive car ever sold at an auction. That record is now held by a Bugatti Atlantic which sold for over $28 million................

Motorsport




For a complete list of Ferrari racing cars, see List of Ferrari competition cars.

Ferrari 312T2 Formula One car driven by Niki LaudaSince the company's beginnings, Ferrari has been involved in motorsport, competing in a range of categories including Formula One and sports car racing through its Scuderia Ferrari sporting division as well as supplying cars and engines to other teams and for one make series.
The 1940 AAC 815 was the first racing car to be designed by Enzo Ferrari, although it was not badged as a Ferrari model.

 Scuderia Ferrari


Main article: Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari has participated in a number of classes of motorsport, though it is currently only involved in Formula One. It is the only team to have competed in the Formula One World Championship continuously since its inception in 1950. José Froilán González gave the team its first F1 victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix.
Scuderia Ferrari won its most recent Formula One driver's title in 2007, with Kimi Räikkönen.Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first Drivers Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team in the championship, and the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. As of 2008[update], the team's records include 15 World Drivers Championship titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007) 16 World Constructors Championship titles (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2008), 209 Grand Prix victories, 4925.27 points, 622 podium finishes, 203 pole positions, and 218 fastest laps in 776 Grands Prix contested.


Notable Ferrari drivers include José Froilán González, Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Luigi Chinetti, Alberto Ascari, Wolfgang von Trips, Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, Giancarlo Baghetti, John Surtees, Lorenzo Bandini, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Jacky Ickx, Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni, Niki Lauda, Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Didier Pironi, Patrick Tambay, René Arnoux, Michele Alboreto, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi, Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa, and Fernando Alonso.



At the end of the 2006 season, the team courted controversy by continuing to allow Marlboro to sponsor them after they, along with the other F1 teams, made a promise to end sponsorship deals with tobacco manufacturers. A five year deal was agreed and although this is not due to end until 2011, in April 2008 Marlboro dropped their on-car branding on Ferrari.


The drivers competing for 2009 were Felipe Massa and defending champion Kimi Räikkönen. In 2010 Fernando Alonso will start racing for Ferrari after racing for Renault and Mclaren, filling Kimi Räikkönen's former seat.




A 312PB (driven by Jacky Ickx) during the team's final year in the World Sportscar Championship.In addition to Formula One, Ferrari also entered cars in sportscar racing, the two programs existing in parallel for many years.

In 1949, Luigi Chinetti drove a 166 M to Ferrari's first win in motorsports, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ferrari went on to dominate the early years of the World Sportscar Championship which was created in 1953, winning the title seven out of its first nine years.

When the championship format changed in 1962, Ferrari earned titles in at least one class each year through to 1965 and then again in 1967. Ferrari would win one final title, the 1972 World Championship of Makes before Enzo decided to leave sports car racing after 1973 and allow Scuderia Ferrari to concentrate solely on Formula One.

During Ferrari's seasons of the World Sportscars Championship, they also gained more wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the factory team earning their first in 1954. Another win would come in 1958, followed by five consecutive wins from 1960 to 1964. Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART) would take Ferrari's final victory at Le Mans in 1965.

Although Scuderia Ferrari no longer participated in sports cars after 1973, they have occasionally built various successful sports cars for privateers. These include the BB 512 LM in the 1970s, the 333 SP which won the IMSA GT Championship in the 1990s, and currently the F430 GT2 and GT3 which are currently winning championships in their respective classes.






 Race cars for other teams

Throughout its history, Ferrari has supplied racing cars to other entrants, aside from its own works Scuderia Ferrari team.
In the 1950s and 60s, Ferrari supplied Formula One cars to a number of private entrants and other teams. One famous example was Tony Vandervell's team, which raced the Thinwall Special modified Ferraris before building their own Vanwall cars. The North American Racing Team's entries in the final three rounds of the 1969 season were the last occasions on which a team other than Scuderia Ferrari entered a World Championship Grand Prix with a Ferrari car.[4]
Ferrari supplied cars complete with V8 engines for the A1 Grand Prix series, from the 2008-09 season.[5] The car was designed by Rory Byrne and is styled to resemble the 2004 Ferrari Formula one car.

The 599 GTB Fiorano and F430 GT are used in GT racing series. The Ferrari Challenge is a one make racing series for the Ferrari F430. Ferrari's latest supercar, the 2006 FXX is not road legal, and is therefore only used for track events.

 Road cars
For a complete list, including future and concept car models, see List of Ferrari road cars.

Ferrari 166 Inter Coupe TouringFerrari's first vehicle was the 125 S sports/racing model. In 1949, the Ferrari 166 Inter, the company's first move into the grand touring market, which continues to make up the bulk of Ferrari sales to the present day.

Several early cars featured bodywork customised by a number of coachbuilders such as Pininfarina, Zagato and Bertone.
The Dino was the first mid-engined Ferrari. This layout would go on to be used in most Ferraris of the 1980s and 1990s. V6 and V8 Ferrari models make up well over half of the marque's total production.
For a time, Ferrari built 2+2 versions of its mid-engined V8 cars. Although they looked quite different from their 2-seat counterparts, both the GT4 and Mondial were closely related to the 308 GTB.
The company has also produced front-engined 2+2 cars, culminating in the current 612 Scaglietti and California.



Ferrari entered the mid-engined 12-cylinder fray with the Berlinetta Boxer in 1973. The later Testarossa remains one of the most famous Ferraris.

 Supercars
Enzo FerrariThe company's loftiest efforts have been in the supercar market. The 1962 250 GTO may be considered the first in the line of Ferrari supercars, which extends to the recent Enzo Ferrari and FXX models.





 Concept cars and specials

Ferrari P4/5Ferrari has produced a number of concept cars, such as the Ferrari Mythos. While some of these were quite radical (such as the Ferrari Modulo) and never intended for production, others such as the Ferrari Mythos have shown styling elements which were later incorporated into production models.

The most recent concept car to be produced by Ferrari themselves was the 2010 Ferrari Millechili.

A number of one-off special versions of Ferrari road cars have also been produced, some of which have been commissioned by wealthy owners.

The Special Projects program is a collaboration by Ferrari with Italian automobile coachbuilders such as Fioravanti, Pininfarina, and Zagato to build custom cars using selected Ferrari models as a structural base. The first car under this program is the SP1, commissioned by a Japanese business executive. The second is the Ferrari P4/5, and the third is the P540 Superfast Aperta, commissioned by an American enthusiast.

 Bio-fuel and hybrid cars

Ferrari has considered making hybrids. A F430 Spider that runs on ethanol was displayed at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Ferrari has announced that a hybrid will be in production by 2015. At the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Ferrari unveiled a hybrid version of their flagship 599. Called the "HY-KERS Concept", Ferrari's hybrid system adds more than 100 horsepower on top of the 599 Fiorano's 612 HP.[6]



 Naming conventions


Until the early 1980s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on engine displacement:

V6 and V8 models used the total displacement (in decilitres) for the first two digits and the number of cylinders as the third. Thus, the 206 was a 2.0 L V6 powered vehicle, while the 348 used a 3.4 L V8, although, for the F355, the last digit refers to 5 valves per cylinder. Upon introduction of the 360 Modena, the digits for V8 models (which now carried a name as well as a number) refer only to total engine displacement. The numerical indication aspect of this name has carried on to the current V8 model, the F430. The F430's replacement, however, is the 458 Italia, which uses the same naming as the 206 and 348.


V12 models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4390 cc V12. However, some newer V12-engined Ferraris, such as the 599, have three-number designations that refer only to total engine displacement.


Flat 12 (boxer) models used the displacement in litres. Therefore, the BB 512 was five litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case). However, the original Berlinetta Boxer was the 365 GT4 BB, which was named in a similar manner to the V12 models.


Halo Car F followed by the anniversary in years, such as the F40 and F50. The Enzo skipped this rule, but it will return in the upcoming F70.


Some models, such as the 1980 Mondial and the 1984 Testarossa did not follow a three-number naming scheme.

612 Scaglietti Sessanta EditionMost Ferraris were also given designations referring to their body style. In general, the following conventions were used:

M ("Modificata"), placed at the end of a model's number, denotes a modified version of its predecessor and not a complete evolution (see F512 M and 575 M Maranello).


GTB ("Gran Turismo Berlinetta") models are closed Berlinettas, or coupes.


GTS ("Gran Turismo Spyder") in older models, are open Spyders (spelt "y"), or convertibles (see 365 GTS/4); however, in more recent models, this suffix is used for targa top models (see Dino 246 GTS, and F355 GTS; the exception being the 348 TS, which is the only targa named differently). The convertible models now use the suffix "Spider" (spelt "i") (see F355 Spider, and 360 Spider).


This naming system can be confusing, as some entirely different vehicles used the same engine type and body style. Many Ferraris also had other names affixed (like Daytona) to identify them further. Many such names are actually not official factory names. The Daytona name commemorates Ferrari's triple success in the February 1967 24 Hours of Daytona with the 330 P4[7]. Only in the 1973 Daytona 24 Hours, a 365 GTB/4 model run by NART, who raced Ferrari's in America) ran second, behind a Porsche 911[8].

The various Dino models were named for Enzo's son, Dino Ferrari, and were marketed as Dinos by Ferrari and sold at Ferrari dealers—for all intents and purposes they are Ferraris.

In the mid 1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice abandoned after the F512 M and F355, but adopted again with the F430).

A pair of Ferraris at an Italian car meet, 2010[edit] Identity

Count Francesco BaraccaThe famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is the Cavallino Rampante ("prancing horse") black prancing stallion on a yellow shield, usually with the letters S F (for Scuderia Ferrari), with three stripes of green, white and red (the Italian national colors) at the top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the hood (see picture above), and, optionally, the shield-shaped race logo on the sides of both front wings, close to the door.






On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, an ace of the Italian air force and national hero of World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would bring him good luck. The original "prancing horse" on Baracca's airplane was painted in red on a white cloud-like shape, but Ferrari chose to have the horse in black (as it had been painted as a sign of grief on Baracca's squadron planes after the pilot was killed in action) and he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. The Ferrari horse was, from the very beginning, markedly different from the Baracca horse in most details, the most noticeable being the tail that in the original Baracca version was pointing downward.

Ferrari has used the cavallino rampante on official company stationery since 1929. Since the Spa 24 Hours of July 9, 1932, the cavallino rampante has been used on Alfa Romeos raced by Scuderia Ferrari.

The motif of a prancing horse is old, it can be found on ancient coins. A similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart, home of Mercedes-Benz and the design bureau of Porsche, both being main competitors of Alfa and Ferrari in the 1930s. The city's name derives from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. Porsche also includes the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centred in the emblem of the state of Württemberg. Stuttgart's Rössle has both rear legs firmly planted on the soil, like Baracca's horse, but unlike Ferrari's cavallino.

Fabio Taglioni used the cavallino rampante on his Ducati motorbikes, as Taglioni was born at Lugo di Romagna like Baracca, and his father too was a military pilot during WWI (although not part of Baracca's squadron, as is sometimes mistakenly reported). As Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse- perhaps the result of a private agreement between the two companies.
Austrian Fuel StationsThe cavallino rampante is the visual symbol of Ferrari. Cavallino Magazine uses the name, but not the logo. However, other companies use similar logos: Avanti, an Austrian company operating over 100 filling stations, uses a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's, as does Iron Horse Bicycles. Many pay homage to the Ferrari logo, e.g. the Jamiroquai album Travelling Without Moving.

 Color


Main article: Rosso corsa


Since the 1920s, Italian race cars of Alfa Romeo, Maserati and later Ferrari and Abarth were (and often still are) painted in "race red" (Rosso Corsa). This was the customary national racing color of Italy, as recommended between the World Wars by the organizations that later would become the FIA. It refers to the nationality of the competing team, not that of the car manufacturer or driver. In that scheme, French-entered cars like Bugatti were blue, German like Benz and Mercedes white (since 1934 also bare sheet metal silver), and British green such as the mid 1960s Lotus and BRM, for instance.

Curiously, Ferrari won the 1964 World championship with John Surtees by competing the last two races in North America with cars painted in the US-American race colors white and blue, as these were not entered by the Italian factory themselves, but by the U.S.-based North American Racing Team (NART) team. This was done as a protest concerning arguments between Ferrari and the Italian Racing Authorities regarding the homologation of a new mid-engined Ferrari race car.

 Corporate affairs


Ferrari also has an internally managed merchandising line that licenses many products bearing the Ferrari brand, including eyewear, pens, pencils, electronic goods, perfume, cologne, clothing, high-tech bicycles, watches, cell phones, and even laptop computers.

Ferrari also runs a museum, the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, which displays road and race cars and other items from the company's history.






 Technical partnerships


Ferrari has had a long standing relationship with Shell Oil. It is a technical partnership with Ferrari and Ducati to test as well as supply fuel and oils to the Formula One, MotoGP and World Superbike racing teams. For example, the Shell V-Power premium gasoline fuel has been developed with the many years of technical expertise between Shell and Ferrari. [9]
Ferrari have had agreements to supply Formula One engines to a number of other teams over the years, and currently supply Scuderia Toro Rosso and Sauber

    Sponsorships

Mazda is a major sponsor to several professional sports teams, including:

• Hometown teams:

o Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Nippon Professional Baseball): The "Toyo" part of the team's name is in honor of Mazda's part-ownership of the team since 1968 (when Mazda was still known as Toyo Kogyo). The Matsuda family, descended from the founder of Mazda, holds the majority share in team ownership.


o Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J. League): Originally known as Toyo Kogyo Soccer Club and founded in 1938, it was owned directly by Mazda until 1992 when Mazda reduced its share to professionalize the club for the new J. League.

• Teams abroad:


o Fremantle Football Club (Australian Football League)


o North Melbourne Football Club (Australian Football League)


The company also sponsors various marathon and relay race events in Japan, such as the Hiroshima International Peace Marathon and the Hiroshima Prefectural Ekiden Race, along with numerous other sporting and charity endeavors in Hiroshima and Hofu.[21] Mazda was also the league sponsor for the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship.


Mazda also maintains sponsorship of the Laguna Seca racing course in California, going so far as to use it for their own automotive testing purposes as well as the numerous racing events (including several Mazda-specific series) that it hosts.[22]

[edit] Marketing


Since 2000, Mazda has used the phrase "Zoom-Zoom" to describe what it calls the "emotion of motion" that it claims is inherent in its cars.[23] Extremely successful and long-lasting (when compared to other automotive marketing taglines), the Zoom-Zoom campaign has now spread around the world from its initial use in North America.[24]


The Zoom-Zoom campaign has been accompanied by the "Zoom Zoom Zoom" song in many television and radio advertisements. The original version, performed by Jibril Serapis Bey (used in commercials in Europe, Japan and South Africa), was recorded long before it became the official song for Mazda as part of a soundtrack to the movie Only The Strong (released in 1993). The Serapis Bey version is a cover of a traditional Capoeira song, called "Capoeira Mata Um". In 2010, their current slogan is "Zoom Zoom Forever". The longer slogan (Used in TV ads) is "Zoom Zoom, Today, Tomorrow, Forever".


Early ads in the Zoom-Zoom campaign also featured a young boy whispering the "Zoom-Zoom" tagline, who eventually was referred to as the "Zoom-Zoom Kid".[25]
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International competition

Mazda's competition debut was on 20 October 1968 when two Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S coupes entered the 84 hour Marathon de la Route ultra-endurance race at the Nürburgring, one finishing in fourth place and the other breaking an axle after 81 hours. The next year, Mazda raced Mazda Familia R100 M10A coupes. After winning the Singapore Grand Prix in April 1969 and coming in fifth and sixth in the Spa 24 Hours (beaten only by Porsche 911s), on 19 October 1969, Mazda again entered the 84 hour Nürburgring race with four Familias. Only one of these finished, taking fifth place.

In 1976, Ray Walle, owner of Z&W Mazda, drove a Cosmo (Mazda RX-5) from the dealership in Princeton, New Jersey, to Daytona, won the Touring Class Under 2.5 Liters at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and drove the car back to New Jersey. The Cosmo placed 18th overall in a field of 72. The only modifications were racing brake pads, exhaust, and safety equipment.[19]

After substantial successes by the Mazda RX-2 and Mazda RX-3, the Mazda RX-7 has won more IMSA races in its class than any other model of automobile, with its hundredth victory on September 2, 1990. Following that, the RX-7 won its class in the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona race ten years in a row, starting in 1982. The RX-7 won the IMSA Grand Touring Under Two Liter (GTU) championship each year from 1980 through 1987, inclusive.

The Mazda 787B, winner of the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

In 1991, a four-rotor Mazda 787B (2622 cc actual, rated by FIA formula at 4708 cc) won the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race outright. The 787B's triumph remains unparalleled, as it remains the only non-piston-engined car ever to win at Le Mans, and Mazda is still the only team from outside Western Europe or the United States to have won at Le Mans — ironically after Nissan had closed down its World Sportscar Championship programme and Toyota had opted to take a sabbatical for most of 1991 in order to develop its 3.5 litre TS010. This led to a ban on rotary engines in the Le Mans race starting in 1992, which has since been rescinded. After the 1991 race, the winning engine was publicly dismantled for internal examination, which demonstrated that despite 24 hours of extremely hard use it had accumulated very little wear.

The Le Mans win in 1991 followed a decade of class wins from other Mazda prototypes, including the 757 and 767. The Sigma MC74 powered by a Mazda 12A engine was the first engine and team from outside Western Europe or the United States to finish the entire 24 hours of the Le Mans race, in 1974. Mazda is also the most reliable finisher at Le Mans (with the exception of Honda, who have entered only three cars in only one year), with 67% of entries finishing. Mazda will return to prototype racing in 2005 with the introduction of the Courage C65 LMP2 car at the American Le Mans Series race at Road Atlanta. This prototype racer uses the Renesis Wankel from the RX-8.

Mazdas have also enjoyed substantial success in World Land Speed competition, SCCA competition, drag racing, pro rally competition (the Familia appeared in the WRC several times during the late '80s and early '90s), the One Lap of America race, and other venues. Wankel engines have been banned for some time from international Formula One racing, as well as from United States midget racing, after Gene Angelillo won the North East Midget Racing Association championship in 1985 with a car powered by a 13B engine, and again in 1986 in a car powered by a 12A engine.
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Partnership with Ford Motor Company



Mazda's financial turmoil and decline during the 1960s resulted in a new corporate investor, Ford Motor Company. Starting in 1979 with a 7-percent financial stake, Ford began a partnership with Mazda resulting in various joint projects. During the 1980s, Ford gained another 20-percent financial stake. These included large and small efforts in all areas of the automotive landscape. This was most notable in the realm of pickup trucks (like the Mazda B-Series, which spawned a Ford Courier variant in North America) and smaller cars. For instance, Mazda's Familia platform was used for Ford models like the Laser and Escort, while the Capella architecture found its way into Ford's Telstar sedan and Probe sports models. In 2002 Ford gained an extra 5-percent financial stake.

The Probe was built in a new Mazda assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan along with the mainstream 626 sedan (the North American version of the Capella) and a companion Mazda MX-6 sports coupe. (The plant is now a Ford-Mazda joint venture known as AutoAlliance International.) Ford has also lent Mazda some of their capacity when needed: the Mazda 121 sold in Europe and South Africa was, for a time, a variant of the Ford Fiesta built in plants in Europe and South Africa. Mazda has also made an effort in the past to sell some of Ford's cars in Japan, mainly through their Autorama dealer group. The Ford Probe was made popular by Steven Bowers in the television show "The Wrong One". [citation needed]


Mazda also helped Ford develop the 1991 Explorer, which Mazda sold as the 2-door only Mazda Navajo from 1991 through 1994. Ironically, Mazda's version was unsuccessful, while the Ford (available from the start as a 4-door or 2-door model) instantly became the best selling sport-utility vehicle in the United States and kept that title for over a decade. Mazda has used Ford's Ranger pickup as the basis for its North American–market B-Series trucks, starting in 1994 and continuing through 2009, when Mazda discontinued their B-Series trucks.[5]

Mazda Millenia


Following their long-held fascination with alternative engine technology, Mazda introduced the first Miller cycle engine for automotive use in the Millenia luxury sedan of 1995. Though the Millenia (and its Miller-type V6 engine) were discontinued in 2002, the company has recently introduced a much smaller Miller-cycle four-cylinder engine for use in their Demio starting in 2008. As with their leadership in Wankel technology, Mazda remains (so far) the only automaker to have used a Miller-cycle engine in the automotive realm.

Mazda 3


Further financial difficulties at Mazda during the 1990s (partly caused by losses related to the 1997 Asian financial crisis) caused Ford to increase its stake to a 33.9-percent controlling interest on 31 March 1997. In 1997, Henry Wallace was appointed President, and he set about restructuring Mazda and setting it on a new strategic direction. He laid out a new direction for the brand including the design of the present Mazda marque; he laid out a new product plan to achieve synergies with Ford, and he launched Mazda's digital innovation program to speed up the development of new products. At the same time, he started taking control of overseas distributors, rationalized dealerships and manufacturing facilities, and driving much needed efficiencies and cost reductions in Mazda's operations. Much of his early work put Mazda back into profitability and laid the foundations for future success. Ford executive Mark Fields, who took over as Mazda's CEO later, has been credited with expanding Mazda's new product lineup and leading the turnaround during the early 2000s. Ford's increased influence during the 1990s allowed Mazda to claim another distinction in history, having maintained the first foreign-born head of a Japanese car company (starting under Henry Wallace (Scottish)).


Amidst the world financial crisis in the fall of 2008, reports emerged that Ford was contemplating a sale of its stake in Mazda as a way of streamlining its asset base.[6] BusinessWeek explained the alliance between Ford and Mazda has been a very successful one, with Mazda saving perhaps $90 million a year in development costs and Ford "several times" that, and that a sale of its stake in Mazda would be a desperate measure.[7] On November 18, 2008, Ford announced that it would be selling a 20% stake in Mazda, bringing its stake to 13.4%, and surrendering control of the company.[8][9] The following day, Mazda announced that, as part of the deal, it was buying back 6.8% of its shares from Ford. It was also reported that Hisakazu Imaki would be stepping down as chief executive, to be replaced by Takashi Yamanouchi


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