Mazda Savanna

Last updated

The Mazda Savanna is a rotary-powered automobile sold by the Japanese manufacturer Mazda between 1971 and 1978. Between 1978 and 1991, spanning two generations, Mazda sold the Savanna replacement as the Mazda Savanna RX-7. Mazda exclusively used the Savanna nameplate in Japan. It was exported as the Mazda RX-3 in its first generation from 1971-1978, and as the Mazda RX-7 in its subsequent generations.

For the original 1971 version of Savanna, Mazda fitted its 10A rotary engine to the Mazda Grand Familia to create a separately marketed product sold in coupé, sedan, and station wagon guises. The engine was upgraded to the larger 12A rotary in the GT model introduced in September 1972, and eventually this became the standard engine across the entire range. Coupé sales accounted for over half of total sales, influencing the design and marketing of the second generation of Savanna. The subsequent two generations, released in 1978 and 1985 respectively, fitted the rotary engines to a unique coupe body that sold internationally as the Mazda RX-7.

The rotary engine had financial advantages to Japanese consumers in that the engine displacement remained below 1.5 litres, a significant determination when paying the Japanese annual road tax which kept the obligation affordable to most buyers, while having more power than the traditional inline engines.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda</span> Japanese multinational automaker

Mazda Motor Corporation, also known as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational company that produces automobiles and engines. Its headquarters are located 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. 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, Ford, and Hyundai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wankel engine</span> Combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design

The Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. The concept was invented and proven by German engineer Felix Wankel, and the commercially feasible engine designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. The Wankel engine's rotor, which creates the turning motion, is similar in shape to a Reuleaux triangle, with the sides having less curvature. The rotor rotates inside a figure-eight-like epitrochoidal housing, around a fixed toothed gearing. The midpoint of the rotor moves in a circle around the output shaft, spinning the shaft via a cam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda RX-7</span> Series of rotary-powered sports cars

The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda RX-8</span> Sports car powered by a rotary engine

The Mazda RX-8 is a sports car manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda between 2002 and 2012. It was first shown in 2001 at the North American International Auto Show. It is the successor to the RX-7 and, like its predecessors in the RX range, it is powered by a rotary Wankel engine. The RX-8 was available for sale in North America from the 2003 model year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Cosmo</span> Sports coupé manufactured by Mazda

The Mazda Cosmo is an automobile which was produced by Mazda from 1967 until 1995. Throughout its history, the Cosmo served as a "halo" vehicle for Mazda, with the first Cosmo successfully launching the Mazda Wankel engine. The final generation of Cosmo served as Mazda's flagship vehicle in Japan, being sold as the Eunos Cosmo through its luxury Eunos division in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Capella</span> Motor vehicle

The Mazda Capella, also known as the 626 in North America and Southeast Asia, is a mid-size car that was manufactured by Mazda from 1970 until 2002. Sold in the Japanese domestic market under the Capella name, the vehicle was also commonly known in other major markets as the Mazda 626. Ford, Mazda's partner at the time, also used the Capella platform to create the Ford Telstar and Ford Probe. 4,345,279 of the 626 and Telstar models were sold worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Luce</span> Motor vehicle

The Mazda Luce is an executive car that was produced by Mazda in Japan from 1966 until 1991. It was widely exported as the Mazda 929 from 1973 to 1991 as Mazda's largest sedan. Later generations were installed with luxury items and interiors as the Luce became the flagship offering. The Luce was replaced by the Sentia in 1991 which was also exported under the 929 nameplate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda MX-6</span> Car model

The Mazda MX-6 is a front-engine, front-wheel-drive coupé manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1987-1997 across two generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Familia</span> Motor vehicle

The Mazda Familia, also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Wankel engine</span> Motor vehicle engine

The Mazda Wankel engines are a family of Wankel rotary combustion car engines produced by Mazda.

ɛ̃fini

was a luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Mazda that operated between 1991 and 1997 in Japan only. Its inception as a brand emerged in the late 1980s when Mazda diversified its sales channels in the Japanese market with the launch of three new marques. The company created Autozam, Eunos, and, in addition to the Mazda and Ford brands already marketed there. This selective marketing experiment ended in the mid-1990s due to economic conditions, largely attributed to the collapse of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1991. As a brand, encompassed most, if not all dealers formerly under the "Mazda Auto Store" dealership network established in 1959 when the Mazda R360 was introduced. Pronounced like the French word infini, the name is written with a tilde over the lowercase Greek ε, and can therefore be assumed to be IPA, the pronunciation symbols taught in Japan, and sometimes used in product naming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Sentia</span> Motor vehicle

The Mazda Sentia is a mid-size rear wheel drive luxury car that was sold by Mazda in Japan from 1991 to 1999 over two generations. It replaced the Mazda Luce nameplate on the Mazda H platform, and continued the tradition of being Mazda's largest flagship sedan, which had been in production since the late 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holden Premier</span> Motor vehicle

The Holden Premier is an automobile that was produced by Holden for Australasia between 1962 and 1980. The Premier was an upmarket version of the:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subaru Leone</span> Motor vehicle

The Subaru Leone is a compact car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Subaru from 1971 to 1994. The word leone is Italian for lion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toyota Mark II</span> Motor vehicle

The Toyota Mark II is a compact, later mid-size sedan manufactured and marketed in Japan by Toyota between 1968 and 2004. Prior to 1972, the model was marketed as the Toyota Corona Mark II. In some export markets, Toyota marketed the vehicle as the Toyota Cressida between 1976 and 1992 across four generations. Toyota replaced the rear-wheel-drive Cressida in North America with the front-wheel-drive Avalon. Every Mark II and Cressida was manufactured at the Motomachi plant at Toyota, Aichi, Japan from September 1968 to October 1993, and later at Toyota Motor Kyushu's Miyata plant from December 1992 to October 2000, with some models also assembled in Jakarta, Indonesia as the Cressida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda B series</span> Series of pickup trucks made by Mazda

The Mazda B series is a series of pickup trucks that was manufactured by Mazda. Produced across five generations from 1961 to 2006, the model line began life primarily as a commercial vehicle, slotted above a kei truck in size. Through its production, Mazda used engine displacement to determine model designations; a B1500 was fitted with a 1.5 L engine and a B2600, a 2.6 L engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda North American Operations</span> Mazda Motor Corporations North American arm

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), which includes Mazda Motor of America, Inc., is Mazda Motor Corporation's North American arm, and constitutes the largest component of that company outside Japan. The company has its headquarters in Irvine, California and is headed by Jeffrey Guyton.

The Mazda RX-01 was a concept car produced by Mazda that debuted at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda Grand Familia</span> Motor vehicle

The Mazda Grand Familia is an automobile which was produced by Mazda in Japan from 1971 to 1978. It was sold as the Mazda 808 in some export markets including Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and as the Mazda 818 in many others - this was mostly due to Peugeot having trademarked three-digit numbers with a middle zero in many markets. The body style configurations offered were a two-door coupé, a four-door sedan, and a five-door station wagon. The Grand Familia offered only inline four cylinder engines. The largely identical rotary-powered versions were marketed as the Mazda Savanna in Japan, with export markets taking this model as the Mazda RX-3.