{"id":19513,"date":"2020-10-16T16:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T14:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/colours-at-mazda-a-history-of-setting-forms-into-motion\/"},"modified":"2021-08-25T14:38:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-25T12:38:08","slug":"colours-at-mazda-a-history-of-setting-forms-into-motion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/colours-at-mazda-a-history-of-setting-forms-into-motion\/","title":{"rendered":"Colours at Mazda: A history of setting forms into motion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Shapes and colours create first impressions, and no other aspect of a vehicle is so immediately \u2013 and intimately \u2013 associated with quality as the exterior finish.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">At Mazda, Takuminuri, the carmaker\u2019s advanced painting process, is designed to enrich the elegant body surfaces of its Kodo vehicle designs with unique colours like Soul Red Crystal or Polymetal Grey, featured on the 2020 World Car Design of the Year-winning Mazda3.<\/p><div class=\"autoestrada-nel-contenuto autoestrada-entity-placement\" id=\"autoestrada-2717059555\" style=\"position: relative;padding: 30px;border: 2px solid red;margin: 25px auto 35px;text-align: center;width: fit-content;\"><div class=\"autoestrada-adlabel\">Advertising<\/div><div id=\"autoestrada-3985870067\"><!-- START ADVERTISER: from tradedoubler.com -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\nvar uri = 'https:\/\/impfr.tradedoubler.com\/imp?type(img)g(25346028)a(2263928)' + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11);\r\ndocument.write('<a href=\"https:\/\/clk.tradedoubler.com\/click?p=289682&a=2263928&g=25346028\" target=\"_BLANK\"><img src=\"'+uri+'\" border=0><\\\/a>');\r\n<\/script>\r\n<!-- END ADVERTISER: from tradedoubler.com --><\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Takuminuri is a product of decades of experience with materials and techniques. Progressive colour schemes can be traced back to Mazda\u2019s early models. The Mazda-Go Type GA \u201cGreen Panel\u201d, a three-wheeled truck launched in 1938, got its name from its green dash &#8211; a youthful touch in an otherwise restrained utility vehicle segment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">The company\u2019s first mass-produced passenger car, the Mazda R360, hit the market in 1960 with a choice of refreshing colours including mint green, sky blue and bright red, clearly setting it apart from the predominantly white competition. Despite being an affordable microcar, it was even offered with two-tone finishes. Combinations like the white body with burgundy roof, gave a refined air to the adorable four-seater coup\u00e9 while also underscoring Mazda\u2019s focus on unconventional designs and driver-oriented engineering, something that continues to this day. The R360 was an immediate hit, capturing almost two-thirds of its segment in Japan in 1960 and fulfilling the dream of car ownership for tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Setting colour precedents<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">As Mazda expanded its model line-up in the 1960s, it offered exclusive metallic finishes on compact and mid-sized models. The Mazda Luce (1966-73), for example, could be ordered in gold or silver \u2013 colours associated with luxury and speed \u2013 accentuating a sporty, elegant exterior designed by none other than up-and-coming legend Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Luce was one of the first internationally sought-after models from Japan.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">The Mazda Cosmo Sport\/110S, in contrast, arrived in 1967 in pure white, chosen not only to emphasise the super sportscar\u2019s space-age design, but also because it was Japan\u2019s official FIA motorsport team racing colour. Mazda\u2019s first production car with a rotary engine, the Cosmo Sport\/110S would in fact soon prove its capability and dependability on the track, unexpectedly finishing fourth in its initial race, the 1968 Marathon de la Route, a gruelling event also known as the 84 Hours of N\u00fcrburgring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">The 1960s saw the early adoption of alkyd resin paint and new drying chambers, allowing Mazda to produce durable finishes while avoiding chalking and the associated loss of surface shine that was a widespread problem at the time. In the 1970s, Mazda was also one of the pioneers of cathodic dip coating (also known as cataphoretic dip painting). The technique uses an electrical charge in the paint to enhance coverage and encourage even distribution for more effective corrosion protection, particularly in body cavities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">A feast for the eyes<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">A flamboyant era began in 1977 with the first-generation Mazda 323, which blended a European hatchback look with a range of intense colours like Muscat Green, Impulse Blue, Grand Prix Red and Sunbeam Silver Metallic. Brightening up the roads around Europe, the 323 would be one of regions most popular imports.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Speaking of bright, one indisputable highlight of Mazda\u2019s colourful period transpired in 1991, when car no. 55, a green and orange Mazda 787B, took the chequered flag at that year\u2019s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The flashy finish and distinguishing scream of the 710PS four-rotor 26B engine, will forever be associated with the first win at the illustrious event by an Asian manufacturer, and the only one so far by a car without a piston engine. The Mazda MX-5 \u201cLe Mans\u201d, a 2011 limited edition commemorating the 20th anniversary of the race, was clad in the 787B\u2019s distinctive livery. It is also one of the few MX-5 versions with a turbocharger.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">When it comes to vivid hues, the MX-5 has introduced many new colours over the past three decades. It has featured a wide range of finishes, from sports-car standards such as Classic Red and British Racing Green, to more conspicuous special edition colours like the Sunracer\u2019s Sunburst Yellow (1995), Spirited Green (Karai, 2011) and Racing Orange (30th Anniversary, 2019), to name but a few. The range of emotion-heightening choices has undoubtedly helped accelerate the Mazda brand icon\u2019s rise to dominance in the global roadster market.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Although it only represents a few thousand grams of a car\u2019s overall weight, body finishing remains one of the most elaborate phases of automobile production today. This explains Mazda\u2019s preoccupation with colours, and it\u2019s why the carmaker invented Takuminuri, whose name unites the Japanese terms for \u201cmaster craftsman\u201d (Takumi) and \u201cpaintwork\u201d (Nuri). The innovative process allows Mazda to mass-produce what appears to be a hand-applied finish by teaching the painting robots to imitate the techniques of its specialists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Enriching the dynamics of light<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Unlike conventional two-layer finishes with a colour base coat and clear coat, Mazda\u2019s metallic colours utilise a three-layer system incorporating a reflective coat and a translucent layer below the final clear coat. The aim is to enrich the depth and colour saturation of the paint, deepening the fluidity and vibrancy of its Kodo designs by amplifying the interplay of light and shade. As a result, the surfaces appear to be in motion even when the vehicle is standing still.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Mazda is especially fascinated with the colour red, and the Takuminuri approach \u2013 first used in 2012 to come up with Soul Red \u2013 has undergone continuous refining as part of Mazda\u2019s quest to create the world\u2019s deepest and most beautiful red. And perhaps no red so far exudes as much emotion as Soul Red Crystal, which is available on all current models. Each of its three layers fulfils a different function. Mazda uses two kinds of aluminium flakes in the base coat: bright ones to reflect light as well as light-absorbing flakes, while the translucent colour coat above it contains high-chroma red pigments. The light shines through the clear coat and red pigment layers on to the aluminium flakes in the base layer. The reflective flakes illuminate the surface with a deep, intense red that seems to shine from within, in contrast to the shaded surfaces of absorbed light, which appear blackish.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">Speaking of red, the company is reviving the white-burgundy two-tone look from the Mazda R360 this year on special edition models to commemorate its centenary. Symbolising elegant driving joy in two distinct packages, most current models will be offered with all-white exteriors and burgundy interiors, while a limited edition MX-5 and the new Mazda MX-30 also get burgundy roofs. With all this inspiration from the past, Mazda\u2019s colour designers can press forward on the eye-catching finishes of the future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shapes and colours create first impressions, and no other aspect of a vehicle is so immediately \u2013 and intimately \u2013 associated with quality as the exterior finish. At Mazda, Takuminuri, the carmaker\u2019s advanced painting process, is designed to enrich the elegant body surfaces of its Kodo vehicle designs with unique colours like Soul Red Crystal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26869,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19513\/revisions\/26869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autoestrada.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}