In a brave new era for the Japanese car industry, the Mazda Cosmo infused Euro-American styling with pioneering rotary power. Almost 50 years on, we take this rare UK example for a spin.
This 1969 Mazda Cosmo Series 2 has a strangely attractive shape. In profile it’s almost a semi-scale first-generation Ford Thunderbird. In fact, the vast wraparound rear window and the bumper-bracketing rear lights wouldn’t look out of place in the Eagle on Dan Dare’s spacecraft Anastasia. I’ve come over all ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ just looking at it. I have to force myself to stop prancing about like a marionette on speed and prepare to board. It may not be the most beautiful Sixties car but its design is most intriguing.
The interior is rather compact and narrow but well appointed. My eye is instantly drawn to the aluminium kickplate on the leading edge of the doorcards, and the stitching of the interior trim. The double stitching around the main instrument binnacle in particular is so well finished that it looks rather more Aston Martin than Mazda. The seats appear to be fully trimmed in hide but are in fact just high-quality vinyl (an option over regular fabric); overall the car exudes an impression of being a very well put-together product. The wood-rimmed steering wheel has three drilled aluminium spokes and is mounted so that it is almost perfectly vertical. If you want to play Sixties F1 racer with completely straight arms, this is the car for you.
Curiously, I note a footrest on the left-hand side of the transmission tunnel, a mirror image of the one placed next to the clutch pedal on the driver’s side. What use that would be, even on a left-hand-drive car – which the Cosmo never became – is beyond me. Also of interest are the door locking pins, which are sensibly and ergonomically positioned just aft of the opening quarterlight so I don’t need to reach awkwardly behind my shoulder as is the norm in most cars.
This story is from the April 2017 edition of Classic Cars.
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This story is from the April 2017 edition of Classic Cars.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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