Tsutomu ‘Tom’ Matano, the man in charge of the design of the first-generation Mazda MX-5 or Miata, passed away over the weekend aged 77.

Born in Nagasaki, Japan in 1947, Matano-san graduated with an analysis engineering degree in 1969. A year later he boarded his uncle’s ship, and headed to the US.

He bounced around for it, continuing his studies, and was finally hired by GM in 1974. Due to visa issues, the General sent him off to Holden in Australia. Under the tutelage of Holden’s design boss Leo Pruneau, he worked on the Torana.

According to his Instagram , his responsibilities included designing the red and white advertising livery for the HDT Torana race car, support vehicles, and the double-decker team bus.

By the late 70s, Matano-san was in Germany working with BMW. His career

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