click above image to view all the new Hakaze photos
Mazda has had a successful auto show season so far thanks to the warm reception of its first two concepts, the Nagare and Ryuga. Unveiled at the L.A. and Detroit auto shows respectively, those two concepts were admittedly as far from production ready as you can get. Mazda's third and final concept for this show season, the Hakaze, is said to be the only one of the three that could be made production ready in a relatively short amount of time. Well, we brought you a large gallery of images showing the development and design team behind the Hakaze concept already, but there were only two exterior shots of the vehicle and no interior shots in that batch of snaps. KickingTires.com has come across almost a dozen additinal shots that show the Hakaze in real world situations, as well as the interior.
[Source: KickingTires.com]
After viewing the additional images, we have to admit that we're lost on how the Hakaze is supposed to be any more production ready than Ryuga, for instance. While the exterior is an obvious evolution of the brand's "emotion of motion" design ethos, it doesn't seem to work as well as wrapped around the traditional proportions of a modern day CUV. Those surface waves on the sides that worked so well on the Nagare and Ryuga make the Hakaze look like a malnourished dog with its ribs showing. The interior, as well, if a designer's flight of fancy with the center console comprised of three vertical lines flanked with glowing orange buttons.
We're certainly not about to trash the Hakaze for being too much a concept, but we're disappointed Mazda doesn't have something for us a little more grounded in reality. If it were up to us, we'd fast track the Ryuga concept into production as a closed coupe counterpart to the MX-5, but that's just us.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
NoNameDenton @ Feb 21st 2007 7:38PM
Kinda looks like a 4X4 hatchback car (yes I have actually seen one in Tennessee)
Rossi @ Feb 21st 2007 7:58PM
one word.
UGLY.
Lithous @ Feb 21st 2007 8:21PM
Are these guys making fun of their majority shareholder's excessive use of chrome grilles? That is not a very nice thing to do.
Howard Kerr @ Feb 21st 2007 8:31PM
And now, from the same folks who brought you the Isuzu Vehicross........
Well, not really, but doesn't it look like that kind of a vehicle?
BOB @ Feb 21st 2007 8:59PM
Didn't I see this in an iNfomercial in October, with Ron Popeil selling it as...........
"THE GINSU COMBINATION JACK-O-LANTERN CUTTER AND
FINISHED, LIGHTED JACK-O-LANTERN"?
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doglet @ Feb 21st 2007 10:43PM
the answer to a question no one asked. ugly useless and a complete waste of space. take it away, i dont want to see it again
BartMack @ Feb 21st 2007 10:54PM
Ha. Mazda's making fun of crossovers, aren't they?
BartMack @ Feb 21st 2007 10:56PM
wait... shouldn't it be called the seppuku?
A_DUCK @ Feb 21st 2007 11:36PM
Is it on the way to rob a bank or something?
Carletti @ Feb 21st 2007 11:51PM
This automobile is a fairly disturbing sight. Based on this showing, my hope is that Mazda Hakaze designers don't take themselves too seriously, respectively. I'm not trying to appear as if I am in a state of hyperbole but, nonetheless, the Hakaze is probably one of the most odd concept cars I have ever seen.
Frogwhistle @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:35AM
I'm pretty sure there must have been a transcription error along the way somewhere. "Hakaze?" Surely that should have been "Hazukashi." the Japanese word for "embarrassed."
BOB @ Feb 22nd 2007 2:46AM
NOW I DECIDED THEY MADE THEIR CONCEPTS UGLY/ CONTROVERSIAL SO WE WOULD NOTICE MAZDA AND TALK ABOUT THEM.
Jap H8r @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:20AM
Must be Japanese for "looks like crap!"
mikomi @ Feb 22nd 2007 7:53AM
This concept does not look too bad if they did something to the grille and the gills. That's just a personal opinion of course. But CUVs are not my thing, impractical for my daily needs.
felipe @ Feb 22nd 2007 8:22AM
lithous- thats hysterical.
from the back, it looks like a big eye. actually my eye hurts looking at the big eye..... it should blink when it rains instead of a rear wiper.
Mike @ Feb 22nd 2007 8:50AM
I agree with Rossi. UGLY.
http://www.internetseriousbiz.com/
C. McFeeny @ Feb 22nd 2007 8:59AM
Gotta go with the crowd on this one. I like Mazda a whole lot and I think their styling team has done an excellent job with the 3, CX-7 & CX-9 (and the forth coming 2) but this looks ridiculous. The grill looks like a big Pokemon smiley-face. The rest of it is pretty cool, though. I like the wavy body details. If they could tweak the grill to look more in tune with the rest of the body and less like a cartoon it would be cool. Either way, it's just a concept.
Tal @ Feb 22nd 2007 12:56PM
Basic smooth flowing shape looks good.
Another artists' approach is needed to create a more palatable end product if Mazda intend to market it.
There is an article within todays group about the many Mazda offerings of crossovers/ Does this fit into the already crowded category?
ebm14 @ Feb 22nd 2007 1:36PM
This looks like a Sperm Whale cross-breed with an Acura MDX.
JimboNC @ Feb 22nd 2007 11:35PM
The expression on its face says somebody double-CROSSed it. Is it a giant squid without the tentacles? Or maybe Godzilla's MX5? That thing will never sell in Alabama's Bible-belt, it looks like hell.