The Kazamai follows on from several recent Mazda concept cars by using more of the companies Nagare flow design language to successful effect, this time on a crossover vehicle, and produces what most onlookers thought to be a really good looking aerodynamic shape.

Although the market for a 3 door crossover 4×4 has yet to be proven, even as a 5 door the feeling at the show was this would sell well, and could be a replacement for the current CX-7, and rival to cars like the Infiniti EX37 crossover SUV. Kazamai is Japanese for “swirling crosswinds” and the car was unveiled at the 2008 Moscow Auto Show.

The Kiyora concept Kiyora was first displayed at the Paris Motor Show in October 2008. It is the latest Mazda concept car to feature the flowing Nagare styling and apparently has “water based” styling influences.

According to Mazda, Kiyora (meaning “clean and pure” in Japanese) represents the harmony between driving pleasure and environmental and safety features aspired to in Mazda’s long-term technology development vision, “Sustainable Zoom-Zoom”. We think it looks good and could provide clues to how a new Mazda 1 compact car could look.

The Furai has to be one of the best looking Japanese concept cars ever produced. when it was unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show it left onlookers gawping at the simply stunning lines which gave the car a look somewhere between a full on group C racer and a piece of automotive sculpture, and in effect, that’s what it is – moving art.

The car was designed on the Chassis of an American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race car chassis and features a twin rotary engine that outputs 450 bhp, and even better than that, it’s fully working and drivable as Mazda showed by taking it for several hot laps of the track, and subsequently even offered automotive journalists test drives in it.

Furai translated means “sound of the wind” and the car is the ultimate expression of Mazda’s Nagare (Japanese for “flow”) design language.

The Taiki concept was first introduced to the world in October 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show and according to Mazda, its design will influence future sports coupe models.

The car is powered by Mazda’s pet project motor – the rotary engine, this time using a larger 1.6 litre unit than the current 1.3 found in the RX-8. This new engine runs a longer stroke which could help increase the one thing the current unit is lacking – Torque.

The concept utilises the Nagare flow styling as seen on all recent Mazda concepts, and could be a hint as to the eventual RX-8 replacement.

According to a Mazda designer “Ryuga will reflect a higher level of sophistication through the use of rich fabrics, engineered fits and hidden details. Ryuga is elegant and refined, but radiates spirit and edge while portraying unique Japanese beauty.”

Aspects of the styling such as the wide grinning mouth front air intake and the pressed creases down the flanks are likely to make it into production Mazda designs in the next few years.

The Nagare concept was first shown at the 2006 LA Show, and was the first of a series of concepts to be shown over the next couple of years which all follow and advance the same styling theme and refining the same new design language that Mazda named after this car.

Nagare (meaning flow in Japanese) is a reference to the flowing lines and creases along the flanks that give a natural yet taut feel to the styling of the concept car. Whether these complex creases are something that can actually be mass produced in production cars rather than just shown in concept form is unknown, but the more basic shapes and themes are expected to be seen on updates of the current production models.

The designer was quoted as saying “we redefined basic proportions and the idea of driving without losing the emotional involvement. Mazda’s driving spirit will be enhanced and intensified by Nagare.”

More Images: