Mazda concept car restored It can never be angular enough

If you lump the cars from the 80s together, you can say that they are quite 'square'. The influence of the Italian design houses on the appearance of cars was still great at the time, and Bertone and Giugiaro in particular used the triangle more often than the loose wrist, certainly with their study models.

You already had angular concept cars in the 60s (think of the Alfa Romeo Carabo, for example) but in the business eighties the sleek design really comes to full maturity. Study models serve as audience warm-ups for the final production model, from which the sharp edges are often literally and figuratively sharpened.

After a short period in the spotlight, a concept car usually gets a one-way ticket to oblivion, only the most legendary models are allowed to make a comeback in a museum or at a classic fair. Whether the Mazda MX-81 Aria belongs to that category is up to you, the fact is that this study model has all the characteristics of a true 80's show model: drawn with a ruler, lots of glass, pop-up headlights, tail lights in the C-pillar, a funky font for the type name, a colorful interior, a 'steering wheel' with many buttons and a screen in the middle. The car, drawn by Marc Deschamps at Bertone, bears some resemblance to the 1979 Volvo Tundra, which Marcello Gandini drew on behalf of Bertone and which indirectly formed the blueprint for the Citroën BX. The Mazda MX-81 Aria was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1981 and was the first Mazda with the letter combination MX. It was found in a storage shed in 2019, after which SuperStile in Turin was commissioned to restore it to its former glory. Even the press photos in front of the Milan Cathedral were shot again forty years later. The relationship between Mazda and Italian design houses goes back to the 1960s, when a young Giorgetto Giugiaro, employed by Bertone, signed for the Familia and the Luce, among others.

Giorgetto Giugiaro is working on the Mazda Luce. A study model has a funky interior. The MX-81 was completely restored in Italy. Note the 'high-tech' dashboard. Find the ten differences. In 1979 Gandini signed the Volvo Tundra in the service of Bertone, which stood at the cradle of the Citroën BX. Giorgetto Giugiaro is working on the Mazda Luce. A study model has a funky interior. The MX-81 was completely restored in Italy. Note the 'high-tech' dashboard. Find the ten differences. In 1979 Gandini signed the Volvo Tundra for Bertone, which stood at the cradle of the Citroën BX. The 1981 press photos of the Aria in front of the Duomo in Milan. Under the skin is a 323 with a 1.5-liter turbo engine of 130bhp.