Mazda Ryuga Concept
First came the slippery, organic Mazda Nagare concept from the L.A. auto show in December, and now for the second major auto show in a row Mazda has unveiled a stunning, sculptural concept car that has virtually no chance of production: the Ryuga. However, to quote Mazda's new chief designer Laurens van den Acker: "Nagare is a dream or an emotion that's just beginning to take shape; Ryuga extends that idea by adding definition." In other words, the Ryuga is closer to something Mazda will eventually produce than Nagare. Perhaps by the time the Frankfurt show comes around this fall we'll have something we can actually drive.
But alas, beyond suggesting that the Ryuga's glitzy 21-inch wheels would be propelled by a 2.5-liter E85 ethanol flex-fuel engine, Mazda didn't release much information about the Ryuga's powertrain. In other words, it's no driver. What it is, then, is just another design study.
With the Nagare and Ryuga, then, we can see the new face of Mazda, which seems to imply that future Mazdas will wear pursed chrome lips and have wispy eyelashes for headlamps, which begs the question: is the soul of a sports car also the soul of a drag queen? We don't know. Can RuPaul run in heels?
Seriously, Mazda sees the headlamp treatment as—we couldn't make this up if we tried—"bamboo leaves moistened by morning dew," with the side surfaces inspired by carefully raked pebbles in karesansui (Japanese rock gardens). The color, which changes depending on ambient lighting conditions, was inspired by flowing lava, as was the taillamp design. Who's gonna explain all this to the zoom-zoom kid?
Perhaps the coolest part of the Ryuga is its wild, four-passenger interior, accessed by gullwing doors and rendered in white-and-gray leather, polished aluminum, and translucent plastic. The steering wheel is more of a steering "u", which may not work real well in reality but sure looks cool. The instruments sprout from the dash like big, chrome flowers with both digital and analog readouts.
Just how much of the Ryuga's extravagant looks and materials trickle down (presumably like morning dew on bamboo leaves) into something like, say, the 2010 RX-8, is anyone's guess.
First came the slippery, organic Mazda Nagare concept from the L.A. auto show in December, and now for the second major auto show in a row Mazda has unveiled a stunning, sculptural concept car that has virtually no chance of production: the Ryuga. However, to quote Mazda's new chief designer Laurens van den Acker: "Nagare is a dream or an emotion that's just beginning to take shape; Ryuga extends that idea by adding definition." In other words, the Ryuga is closer to something Mazda will eventually produce than Nagare. Perhaps by the time the Frankfurt show comes around this fall we'll have something we can actually drive.
But alas, beyond suggesting that the Ryuga's glitzy 21-inch wheels would be propelled by a 2.5-liter E85 ethanol flex-fuel engine, Mazda didn't release much information about the Ryuga's powertrain. In other words, it's no driver. What it is, then, is just another design study.
With the Nagare and Ryuga, then, we can see the new face of Mazda, which seems to imply that future Mazdas will wear pursed chrome lips and have wispy eyelashes for headlamps, which begs the question: is the soul of a sports car also the soul of a drag queen? We don't know. Can RuPaul run in heels?
Seriously, Mazda sees the headlamp treatment as—we couldn't make this up if we tried—"bamboo leaves moistened by morning dew," with the side surfaces inspired by carefully raked pebbles in karesansui (Japanese rock gardens). The color, which changes depending on ambient lighting conditions, was inspired by flowing lava, as was the taillamp design. Who's gonna explain all this to the zoom-zoom kid?
Perhaps the coolest part of the Ryuga is its wild, four-passenger interior, accessed by gullwing doors and rendered in white-and-gray leather, polished aluminum, and translucent plastic. The steering wheel is more of a steering "u", which may not work real well in reality but sure looks cool. The instruments sprout from the dash like big, chrome flowers with both digital and analog readouts.
Just how much of the Ryuga's extravagant looks and materials trickle down (presumably like morning dew on bamboo leaves) into something like, say, the 2010 RX-8, is anyone's guess.
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