Motorcycle specifications Toyo Kogyo (Mazda) 250 1930 Ahura's other will

Very few people are familiar with the Toyo Kogyo brand. A small company founded in 1920, making corks for the Japanese wine industry. But if I tell you that this company is soon to become Mazda, you'll get a much better idea of its profile.

But why talk about Mazda, a manufacturer with a reputation for great models like the MX-5 roadster or the RX-7 rotary-engined sports car, but not at all for motorcycles?

Because before launching into automobiles, its motorized adventure began with a two-wheeler.

Victory as presentation

The name of this model is lost in history. It began in 1929, when Toyo Kogyo (not yet called Mazda) started developing a motorcycle with a 250 2-stroke engine. In the Hiroshima area, racing was hectic, so this first version went on to compete in the Chinkon-no Matsuri in 1930. It was a trial run, but it turned out to be a brilliant one: the bike won! And ahead of a British bike (Ariel).

The company later built a revised version of this prototype, this time with a 4-stroke engine, still 250 cm3. Production was low, with only 30 examples leaving the factory. At a consequent price. Would Toyo Kogyo Mazda become a major player, well ahead of Honda, Suzuki, Meguro, Yamaha or Kawasaki?

No, Toyo Kogyo would not follow up in this form. This motorcycle would be transformed into a three-wheeler in 1931: the Mazda-GO, which would launch the brand towards its new destiny. An epic marked by war, a marriage with Ford and a series of setbacks, but also by innovation, successes, victories (including the 24 Hours of Le Mans), a high reputation for reliability - and the one that perhaps best symbolizes this brand: the Miata.

M.B - Manufacturer's photos

Ahura Mazda was a Persian deity, the bearer of truth and wisdom. The company chose its name in 1934 as a reference to this supreme spirit and its principles.