Meanwhile in mazdas underground bunker......

Good read for you Mazda fans!

http://www.turnology.com/features/mazdas-underground-basement-is-an-enthusiasts-dreamland/

I need to live down there.

That looks like an amazing place to spend an afternoon.

Lancer007 wrote: That looks like an amazing place to spend a lifetime.

FTFY. Really cool... I liked the MX6 that John Finger drove. He's still active in hillclimbs down here.

Too bad I'll never be recognizable enough to be invited to wander around down there because I could spend a week just ogling the collection.

Fun read.

I love this type of stuff.

So fascinating to see the process of the new and innovative becoming old and obsolete.

Great to see the Miata M Coupe is still alive. I still can't believe they never produced that.

I think we need to band together to see if we as a group could get a Willy wonka type of tour, then an afternoon at laguna seca followed by beers lol.

Curmudgeon wrote:

Lancer007 wrote: That looks like an amazing place to spend a lifetime.

FTFY. Really cool... I liked the MX6 that John Finger drove. He's still active in hillclimbs down here.

I was told by the PO of my REPU that John Finger personally owned the truck before he got it. I contacted the Dealer down in one of the Carolinas (I forget which), but John didn't have any records of VIN's for his many REPU's he owned over the years. I still like to believe it belonged to him, and towed a race car or two in its day.

I need an accomplice....

I am bummed that there isn't a brown 1981 626 down there...

JtspellS wrote: I think we need to band together to see if we as a group could get a Willy wonka type of tour, then an afternoon at laguna seca followed by beers lol.

Dibs on drowning in the chocolate river!

Except, being Mazda, it would be Idemitsu rotary-blend motor oil.

Knurled wrote:

JtspellS wrote: I think we need to band together to see if we as a group could get a Willy wonka type of tour, then an afternoon at laguna seca followed by beers lol.

Dibs on drowning in the chocolate river! Except, being Mazda, it would be Idemitsu rotary-blend motor oil.

I got dibs on winning.

Woody wrote: I am bummed that there isn't a brown 1981 626 down there...

Get out of my head.

In reply to Swank Force One:

Do it.....

I've been down there. Clay models of the first Miatas, pristine 323s, the 787b... yeah, it's a pinch-me place of the first order.

In reply to Lesley:

So inform us please, just how in the hell can a person legally get down there? Aside from having heavy credentials?

In reply to JtspellS:

Having heavy media credentials......or getting to know some powerful figures in Mazda NA?

Wow that's cool. Mazda is such a unique car making company and it's fascinating to see all that history in one place.

In reply to yamaha:

Unfortunately that is my thought, I would definitely pay for a ticket to get in, would be worth the flight alone!

That is spectacular! I love the M-coupe concept car. I once saw it in person at the Tustin Thunder vintage races back in July 1996, held at the old blimp base in Tustin, CA. (As part of the event, there was a huge car show in one of the two huge blimp hangers, and this very car was in it). It looks great in person. I wish Mazda had made it because now I'd have a coupe and roadster.

A bit if trivia: the outdoor parking lot of this Mazda facility was the location of the once-famous, but now-defunct Cars and Coffee Irvine car shows held every Saturday morning until the end of last year.

I've been on the track in the passenger's seat of the M Coupe, actually. Gorgeous little car. We've been trying to convince Mazda to let us have it at FM so we can care for it and get it out into the world so people can see it. No luck yet.

I happened to be at the same dinner table at the launch of the CX-5 with Kelvin Hiraishi, Mazda's head engineer of R&D. He's exceptionally cool, a real enthusiast and just a genuinely nice guy. Two of my colleagues and I enjoyed talking to him so much, that he was impressed with our interest and extended the offer of a visit. For me, it was particularly enthralling, as he arranged a tour of the design studio where I chatted with the artists and sculptors, picking their brains about software and techniques. The pay may be crap, the hours are long, but the perks of my job can be pretty sweet.

Mazdax605 wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote:

Lancer007 wrote: That looks like an amazing place to spend a lifetime.

FTFY. Really cool... I liked the MX6 that John Finger drove. He's still active in hillclimbs down here.

I was told by the PO of my REPU that John Finger personally owned the truck before he got it. I contacted the Dealer down in one of the Carolinas (I forget which), but John didn't have any records of VIN's for his many REPU's he owned over the years. I still like to believe it belonged to him, and towed a race car or two in its day.

He still owns the Mazda dealership in Greenville. http://www.johnfingermazda.com/ He's a pretty good old cuss.

I have an incredible respect for Mazda. The only new cars I've ever purchased have both been Mazdas. I believe that their kind of innovation deserves to be rewarded. All the more impressive given Mazda's diminutive size relative to other manufacturers.