Bob Hall | |
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Born | 1953 |
Occupations |
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Spouse | Karen Hall |
Bob Hall is a former American motoring journalist best known for his work as an automotive product planner. [1]
Hall is best known as a founder member of the development team who produced the Mazda MX-5. [2]
Hall started his career as a journalist for Motor Trend. [3]
Hall's first blackboard sketch of a two-seater convertible car in the early 1980s resulted in him being offered a job by Mazda Motors although he has no formal engineering qualifications. Hall is considered to be the "biological father" of the MX-5 (known in the United States as the Miata), although he was not responsible for the engineering and styling work that brought it to production. [3]
After leaving Mazda, Hall continued his career as an automotive journalist in Australia. [4]
Hall lived in Malaysia from 2004 to 2011, [5] working for Proton as Head of product planning and programme engineering. [6]
In September 2014 Hall joined Geely, where it has been said he's been tasked to come up with an all-new mass-selling vehicle to hit the spot with western markets. [7] While he has not commented on what the new vehicle may be, he has said it will not be a front-engine, rear-drive sportscar. [8]
He is married to Karen, [5] is the twin brother of Jim Hall (who worked in product management at General Motors), [9] and is fluent in Japanese. [10]
Mazda Motor Corporation, also known as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. The company was founded on January 30, 1920, as Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., a cork-making factory, by Jujiro Matsuda. The company acquired Abemaki Tree Cork Company. It changed its name to Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. in 1927 and started producing vehicles in 1931. The name Mazda was derived from Ahura Mazda, the god of harmony, intelligence and wisdom in Zoroastrianism, as well as from the surname of the founder. Mazda is one of the largest automakers in Japan and the world. In 2015, it produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, of which nearly one million were made in Japan and the rest in various other countries. It ranked as the 15th-largest automaker by production volume globally in 2015. Mazda is known for its innovative technologies, such as the Wankel engine, the SkyActiv platform, and the Kodo Design language. It also has a long history of motorsport involvement, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with the rotary-powered Mazda 787B. Mazda has several alliances and partnerships with other automakers, such as Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Suzuki and Ford.
The Mazda MX-5 is a lightweight two-person sports car manufactured and marketed by Mazda with a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. The convertible is marketed as the Mazda Roadster or Eunos Roadster in Japan, and as the Mazda Miata in the United States, and formerly in Canada, where it is now marketed as the MX-5 but is still commonly referred to as Miata.
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Spec Miata is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), National Auto Sport Association (NASA), and Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs (MCSCC) road racing events.
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C. Mark Jordan is an automotive designer known for his work with General Motors's Opel division and Mazda North America, including his part in the genesis of the first generation Mazda MX-5 Miata, a car that ultimately became the best-selling two-seat convertible sports car in history.
The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin is a single-make motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) in the United States. Mazda MX-5 Cup is the professional Spec Miata series of Mazda Motorsports, promoted by Andersen Promotions. The pro Spec Miata series has its roots in 2003, but a unified national championship was launched in 2006.
Tsutomu "Tom" Matano is an advertising agent, automotive designer, and automotive journalist. Matano was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and continued to live in Japan until after his studies in university. He began an Analysis Engineering Major at Seikei University in Tokyo, Japan, in April 1965 and graduated in March 1969. Following his graduation, Matano moved to the United States in September 1970 via his uncle's container ship, landing himself in Seattle, then to Los Angeles, and finally New York City.
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The Mazda MX-5 (NC) is the third generation of the Mazda MX-5 manufactured from 2005 to 2015. At its introduction in 2005, it won the Car of the Year Japan Award and made Car and Driver's 10Best list from 2006 to 2013.
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The Mazda MX-5 (NB) is the second generation of the Mazda MX-5 manufactured from 1998 until 2005. The model continued the MX-5's philosophy of being a lightweight, front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive roadster while featuring numerous performance improvements, however lacking its predecessor's retractable headlamps. The NB is also the only generation to feature a factory-built turbocharged variant in the form of the Mazdaspeed MX-5.
...I would not develop, in any way, a front-engine, rear drive roadster sports car...