Mazda MX 81
Mazda

The History of Mazda MX: From the MX-81 to the MX-30

Avatar photoSports Car Digest

The Mazda MX-81 made its debut 40 years ago at the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show proudly showcasing its futuristic, wedge-shaped coupe design by Marc Dechamps for the Turin-based coachbuilder Bertone. It would be the first of a long line of models to feature the iconic MX badge.

Mazda MX-81 sketch
Nuccio Bertone
Nuccio Bertone

Bertone used the running gear of the Mazda 323 to build the Mazda MX-81 Aria concept car – a futuristic wedge-shaped hatchback. At the 1981 Tokyo Motor Show, the vehicle stood out from the others with its gold paint, enormous glasshouse, and pop-up lights. 

Tags
Avatar photo
Sports Car Digest
Sports Car Digest is composed of writers and photographers from around the world, all focused upon providing authoritative content and commentary and stunning images to our audience of historic car enthusiasts. Many of our contributors choose to be anonymous, so we use this author account to share their stories and amazing photography.
Related
Members only$29 / year

Keep going. This is where it gets good.

Sports Car Digest Membership is for people who'd rather spend an hour with one chassis number than skim ten headlines. The rest of this story — and every other one like it — is a few seconds away.

  • 5,000+ members-only stories

    Concours, auctions, race history, driven classics and the full archive.

  • No ads. None.

    The whole site reads like a magazine, on every device.

  • The market, every week

    Auction results and classic-car values from the people who were there.

  • 30% off the shop

    Every Sports Car Digest shirt and piece of merch, all year.

Join Sports Car Digest — Keep Reading

$29 a year. Cancel anytime, no hoops.
Already a member? Sign in

BY CAR PEOPLE, NOT A NAMELESS MEDIA COMPANY. Your membership keeps a small independent team of historians, photojournalists and racing drivers doing this.

Join — Keep Reading $29/yr