THE MAN WHO GAVE JAPAN ITS SOUL CAR

There are car designers who build machines.

- ROHIT PARADKAR

And then there are the ones who shape culture. Tsutomu “Tom” Matano was the latter. With nothing more than a pencil and a refusal to conform, he helped rewrite the definition of what a Japanese sportscar could be. In a world obsessed with numbers and Nürburgring lap times, Matano-san’s MX-5 Miata spoke of something far more powerful: joy.

THE ANTI-SUPERCAR SUPERCAR

The 1980s were a loud decade. Turbo badges were slapped onto anything that moved. Supercars were developing a love affair wings and slats, and egos to match. Japan was in the thick of this arms race too - Nissan with its GT-Rs, Toyota with its Supras, Honda readying the NSX. But then along came the Mazda MX-5 in 1989, smiling like it had absolutely no business being that happy.