Mazda TD-R
Car of the Day #319: 1989 Mazda TD-R – Monster Miata
It’s wild, the day you realize that concept cars really are ahead of their time.
The TD-R (I’ll get to specifics in a minute) is a car that know-it-alls have long claimed the Miata should be, and what inspired custom car builders try and modify MX-5s into. Part Toyota MR-2, part rally car (Toyota 222D), part Baja’d Mazda MX-5, the TD-R prototype may have made little sense in the late 1980s — but makes a ton of sense now.
The TD-R’s double wishbone suspension is height adjustable, offering improved dynamics at a road appropriate level and increased ground clearance when needed for soft off-roading.
Given its 4WD system and 1.6-liter 16-valve turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, if a standard MX-5 was akin to a Japanese Chevrolet Corvette, the little TD-R was basically a road-going, Ford RS200 or aforementioned 222D, though intended for the likes of us.
Or — a reimagined Porsche 914, albeit with four-wheel-drive and enough ground clearance to safely oversteer through the outside of a gravel corner, and possibly survive flinging it into a small ditch just outside the road’s surface.
Me? I’d be undercoating it and drifting through winter weather — a light, rear drive car in winter conditions with nice tires and the risk of freezing to death if you’ve messed up is an unmatched vibe.
1989 Mazda TD-R concept; sad about the image quality? This is all I’ve got :\ It really is a largely undocumented concept car… • Mazda
Look at it one way, it’s an upgraded Autozam AZ-1. From another, it’s Mazda’s ultimate World Rally Championship upgrade — a 323 GT-R meets RX-7 rally car. FRP panels complete the competition-ready approach to making a freakin’ cool concept car, one that would eat at any rallycross event. Weight? 800 kg (1,763 lbs).
Upward-opening doors, like the later Mazda HR-X concept, offer a slice of theatre (and preserve the car’s Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing-like high side sills).
Ready for some angles of it from the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show?
;)
michael banovsky