Publication: Auto Sport
Format: Test Drive Report
Date: Spring 1966
Author: Robert Dunham

Robert Dunham’s Test Run: Mazda Cosmo

“I Drove the Much-Anticipated Rotary-Engined Mazda Cosmo”
—The first published road test of the Mazda Cosmo.

Recently, through an introduction by the Asahi Evening News, I was invited by Tsuneji Matsuda, president of Toyo Kogyo, to visit the company’s factory and test course in Hiroshima. There, to my great surprise, I was given the opportunity to drive Japan’s first rotary-engined car: the Mazda Cosmo. It was an experience that proved both immensely enjoyable and genuinely memorable.

Publication: Car Graphic
Format: Road Impressions
Date: August 1967
Author: “C/G Test Group” (uncredited)

An Astonishingly Flexible Engine

There is something both exciting and faintly unnerving about testing a revolutionary mechanism for the first time. This was certainly the case with the rotary-piston engine. However, after approximately 600km behind the wheel of the Mazda Cosmo, it became clear that this remarkable powerplant combines outstanding high-speed performance with astonishing flexibility at low engine speeds. Even in crowded city traffic, it proves entirely practical and capable of everyday use.

Publication: Motor Fan
Format: Road Test
Date: August 1967
Authors (Roundtable): Kenichi Yamamoto, Moriyuki Watanabe, Osamu Hirao, Masaichi Kondo, Kazuo Kumabe, Atsushi Watari, Kenji Higuchi, Kazuo Takada, Akio Miyamoto, Yasuhisa Minagawa, Saburo Araki, Yasuhei Oguchi, Mineo Yamamoto, Toshihide Hirata, Masataka Matsui, Minoru Onda, Motor Fan Editorial Staff (uncredited)

Unique Rotary Engine Completed

Magazine: First, please tell us about the difficulties you faced in completing the rotary engine at the center of the Cosmo.

Publication: Motor Fan
Format: Group Test Drive
Date: August 1967
Authors: Katsuzo Kageyama, Fujio Uruno, Taisuke Fujishima, Daisuke Kato, Keitaro Miho, Kaoru Natsukawa, Motor Fan Editorial Staff (uncredited)

Driving the Mazda Cosmo Sport

The revolutionary rotary-piston engine has been successfully brought into practical use at last, following six years of research and development by Toyo Kogyo. Installed in the sleek Cosmo Sport, production has finally begun.

For this article, we invited six specialists from various fields to drive the car and give us their impressions of the rotary engine’s uniquely sharp acceleration and remarkable smoothness, as well as their overall impressions of the Cosmo as a sports car.

Publication: Auto Sport
Format: Road Impressions
Date: September 1967
Author: Robert Dunham, Noriko Uchida, Auto Sport Editorial Staff (uncredited)

The Mazda Cosmo That Captivated Blue Eyes

American driver Robert Dunham, a resident of Japan, takes the wheel of the revolutionary rotary-engined Mazda Cosmo. Joining him on the drive is announcer and motoring enthusiast Noriko Uchida, serving as navigator. Here are the impressions of two people who, by their own admission, were both “completely won over” by the experience.

Publication: Car Graphic
Format: Road Test
Date: September 1967
Author: Junji Shirai, Nobuo Koga

Mazda Cosmo Sport: 1,000km Endurance and Circuit Test

As we raced down National Route 113 toward the Sea of Japan, over mud, gravel, and rocks, the dark mass of Oguni Pass—which we had only just crossed, with considerable difficulty—was beginning to brighten faintly behind us. It was 3:50am on July 12, exactly 12 hours since we had left Tokyo, and the trip recorder showed that we had covered 534km.