Dang. What a legend.
Thank you, Mr. Matano.
Photograph courtesy Mazda
Like the Miata? Thank Tom Matano. As Executive Designer and Director of Mazda North American Operations, he helped bring two important cars to life: the original Miata and the FD-chassis RX-7. He passed away September 20, 2025, at the age of 76, with the news just making the rounds.
“Miata’s design doesn’t oversell its power; the internal mechanical engineering delivers exactly what it looks like on the outside,” Matano told Hagerty.com in 2015. “It’s well-proportioned and balanced–simplicity is key. It’s a car you can jump into and take for a drive. It’s worry-free and fun, especially with the top down. There’s nothing quite like taking winding roads in a Miata, with fresh air filling your nostrils and sunshine radiating against your skin, bringing you closer to the great outdoors.”
Matano’s career didn’t start with Mazda, though. He was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and came to the U.S. in 1974, soon after taking a job with General Motors. In 1977, he moved to BMW. Once joining Mazda in 1983, he found Bob Hall and Mark Jordan already working on a throwback roadster–the machine that would eventually become our Miata.
After the original Miata’s 1989 launch, he eventually helped Wu-huang Chin pen the third-generation RX-7, the machine that influenced Matano’s work on the second-generation Miata.
Dang. What a legend.
Thank you, Mr. Matano.
Tom was a stellar individual whom I was extremely pleased to have known through the 1990's involvement with the Miata Club activities.
His signature and iconic tagline "Always Inspired" may still be found on many Miata dashes or trunk lids around the USA!
He definitely will be fondly remembered, and missed in and by the enthusiast community.
In reply to DTS :
I'm glad that he lived long enough to see how much joy the Miata brought to the world.
I can only hope to be a quarter as influential on the car world as Tom was.
Rest well Tom, you've earned it.
Have been driving Miatas for 18 years now, and have been a fan of them for about 30. FD I still say is the best looking Japanese car, if not just... best looking *car* and I say that as a long time Supra owner. =)
Since we've posted this, I've been overwhelmed by the sheer number of tributes to Tom I've seen–many from people who didn't just meet him, but were genuine friends with him.
I can only imagine how gutting his passing has been for them.
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