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Jay Leno Drives Mazda’s Kabura
By Turbonius J. Monkey | May 19, 2008
This one seems to be sneaking in under the radar, but there seems to be very little buzz about Mazda’s upcoming Kabura. Mazda appears to be doing something about that by letting Jay Leno take a spin. It’s no secret this guy Loves cars with a capital L and it shows in his reflections on Mazda and their rotary engine and sports car heritage. You can read Jay’s article here and more of my thoughts after the jump.
I have to confess to having had a rather narrow opinion on Jay Leno as a car guy. I was under the mistaken impression that his tastes were mired in the realm of classic American Iron. But in recent months I’ve learned a bit more about Leno and his collection and was pleasantly surprised to see the diversity in his stable. Not only is it ripe with those gorgeous rolling artworks from the American heyday of the 50′s and 60′s, but plenty of attention is given to the sporting, the esoteric and the downright bizarre.
It wasn’t too many months ago that I learned of Jay’s purchase of a Mazda Cosmo. A significant car, the first 2 rotor example of the rotary engine in a production vehicle, the Cosmo was a vision for the future. Its revolutionary styling only hinted at the revolution happening under the hood. This car is remarkable in that there hasn’t been a more meaning design in the internal combustion engine since. Every other internal combustion engine has been a variation, evolution or improvement of the regular old piston engine. That’s not to say that current piston engines aren’t remarkable, they are.
So good ol’ Jay has an incredibly cool car collection with some of the weirdest and coolest rides known to man. Fast forward to the future and the Kabura. Mazda rumors aren’t necessarily running rampant, but to be sure they are running. There is talk of an MX-5 coupe, scarcely a single official word from Mazda, but there is certainly pressure. Pontiac has recently unveiled their Solstice Coupe at the New York International Auto Show. This car has what must be one of the finest looking automotive rear ends this side of a Jaguar E-Type. I have yet to drive one, but with its hardtop targa style roof this car should deliver a much more refined driving experience than the cabrio counterpart.
Mazda in the meantime has Kabura on the way. In concept form it’s a 3+1 coupe this translates to “designed around the driver” with 2 normal sized passenger seats and a jump seat aft of the cockpit for use in a pinch. It won’t look like an MX-5 despite sharing most mechanicals.
So where does that leave the rumors of an MX-5 coupe? I’m not really sure. Mazda has done a very limited release of an MX-5 coupe in the past, and sadly they weren’t offered on our shores. It’s hard not to think of the limited appeal a coupe variant might have especially with the PRHT version now available.
Still another side sees the point. It’s been recently stated that Mazda has a significantly greater presence in SCCA racing than any other maker out there. They are a veritable giant killer representing half of the field you’ll see on SCCA tracks. You have to wonder, with such a high representation on the racetrack, what do racers know that the rest of us don’t? Were Mazda to make an MX-5 coupe, their stronghold in club racing would be fortified for years to come.
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May 20th, 2008 at 9:27 am
[...] This one seems to be sneaking in under the radar, but there seems to be very little buzz about Mazda’s upcoming Kabura. Mazda appears to be doing something about that by letting Jay Leno take a spin. It’s no secret this guy Loves cars with a capital L and it shows in his reflections on Mazda and the … Source: Jay Leno Drives Mazda’s Kabura [...]