January 30: Mazda was founded on this date in 1920
By Justin Hyde6 hours agoMotoramic
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LoginBy the time Jujiro Matsuda was invited by investors to take over a failing artificial cork business in Hiroshima, Japan, he was already a successful businessman and factory owner. Within a few years, Matsuda had killed the cork business and refocused the company on making small vehicles, like a three-wheel delivery motorcycle. He also chose a new name for the company, drawing from a spiritual reference to the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda — a name vaguely similar to the pronunciation of his family name. Mazda built small vehicles before World War II; its plant in Hiroshima survived the atomic bomb, and the company flourished afterwards. Here's a brief look at one of Mazda's great successes — a ride in the four-rotor 787B, the only Japanese car to date to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright:
