Four years ago, Motor Trader had the pleasure of viewing a stunning privately-held collection of Mazda motor vehicles. That collection, owned by Danny Irvine of Mazda specialist Automotive Plus, has some true gems, including a cracking 1990 JC Cosmo (the flagship of Mazda’s luxury Eunos division and the first production car to have a built-in GPS navigation system) and the JC Cosmo’s rare and stunning-looking predecessor, a 1968 110S L10A Cosmo Sport. Only 343 of the L10A were ever built and it was the first Mazda to be powered by a Wankel rotary engine – the engine technology that Mazda would continue to develop and use for decades in its vehicles, and for which it became famous.

Tucked in amongst these and other classics from Mazda’s past is a small and rather cute vehicle that was, in fact, a true milestone for the company – the R360 Coupe. This little car was Mazda’s first passenger car and was launched in Japan in 1960.

A ‘Kei’ car – a designation given to Japanese models that are small in size and small in engine capacity so as to meet strict regulations – the R360 Coupe was a two-door, four-seat sedan (though surely only four of the trimmest humans could have occupied it at any one time!), weighed just 380kg, was powered by a 356cc, two-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke, 16hp engine and could climb to a not-too-shabby 85km/h.

Cheap and economical, the R360 was a wildly popular car on its release. It went on sale in Japan in June of 1960 and by the end of the year more than 23,000 of them had been sold, giving the company a 65 per cent share of the micro-mini car market.

It was the foundation block upon which Mazda built its successful passenger car business.

This particular model, a 1966 R360, was built at the end of the model’s six-year production run and it is an important part of Danny’s collection – the company’s first passenger car was one that he could not pass up the chance of owning – and one he tracked down in 2011.

“Mazda were making the T-series and D-series trucks, but this was their first vehicle where their focus was on moving people,” says Danny. “So, it was important to have this model. Even though I am a rotary engine enthusiast and this doesn’t have one, Mazda’s history is important to me and this car represented an historic moment for the company.”

As with many of the cars in his collection, Danny found the R360 in Japan through an online auction. His business takes him to Japan often and has enabled him to establish a network of contacts that not only gives him the opportunity to track down cars but also inspect them and store them for transport to Australia.

“At that time, I was actively looking for cars and I think I added about a dozen to the collection in that period!” he says. “While I didn’t see this one personally before I bought it, I did have someone go and have a look at it for me and I had plenty of photos. The seats had been retrimmed and it had been repainted at some point in the past 52 years. Plus, the previous owner had supplied a series of images of the engine being rebuilt, so I knew that was relatively fresh.

“The condition was very good, pretty much as you see it now,” he adds. “Basic maintenance and keeping it clean is all I have really had to do.”

While the R360 Coupe sold in big numbers in Japan, few found their way out of the country at the time and, like many cars, they were, says Danny, considered rather disposable and are now considered something of a rarity.

“They were never sold through the dealer network outside of Japan as far as I am aware,” he says. “Quite a few found their way into the hands of enthusiasts like me, but it is a rare car now. Mazda have one in their historical collection in Melbourne but outside of that I think there are only about half-a-dozen in Australia and maybe only four of them are driveable.”

With a collection as large as his – now 28 vehicles – Danny obviously doesn’t get to speed the little Mazda around town very much. When he has, however, it is just as much of a head-turner as the classic L10A Cosmo Sport – a considerably rarer vehicle from the company’s past.

“I actually haven’t taken it out for a while but when I have, people are very curious about it,” he says with a smile. “If the general public came in to look at the collection as a whole, it definitely would be the R360 that would gain the most attention. People that aren’t car enthusiasts or ‘Mazda’ people are automatically drawn to it because of how cute it is.”

Interestingly, though the R360 is a historical marker for Mazda, and the Cosmo Sport is a rare and classic sports car (How rare? A beautifully restored version sold for $US264,000 in 2014), neither of these hold the top spot for Danny in the list of his cars. Rather surprisingly, that honour goes to his early 1980’s 626.

“Emotionally, the 626 sits at the top of the list because it was my first car,” he says. “I cut my teeth in vehicle modification on that car so that is very important to me. But the R360 is up there because of its historical significance and because it is so pleasing to the eye.”

It was Danny’s fascination with Mazda and the rotary engine technology it used and developed for decades that led him to build his fantastic collection. And that collection has led to doors being opened that would make many a car enthusiast green with envy.

2017, in particular, was a fruitful year, with invitations to events that took him around the world.

“Last year was a big one for Mazda globally,” he says. “The first big event was in May when Mazda and the Frey family in Germany, who have been Mazda dealers for a long time, opened the first Mazda museum outside of Japan. I was very fortunate to be invited to attend by Mazda Europe, and that was a terrific event.

“2017 was also the 50th anniversary of Mazda’s use of the rotary engine and the 50th anniversary of the Cosmo Sport,” he adds. “As a member of the Cosmo Sport owners club of Japan, I was invited to their international gathering in Hiroshima in September, and a week after that I headed up to Mt Fuji Speedway for the 50th anniversary celebration of the rotary engine. Both of those events were amazing, and I was able to meet some of the original engineers who worked on the rotary project as well as talk to the gentlemen involved in the development of cars like the MX5 and the RX7. It was fantastic.”

While 2018 and 2019 might be a little bit quieter in the globe-trotting stakes, there is, in 2020, the little matter of Mazda’s 100th anniversary.

Celebrations are sure to be comprehensive and it would be no surprise to find Danny at more than one over the course of the year.

Flying across the world, celebrating the thing you have a true passion for . . . sounds pretty good to us. Zoom Zoom indeed.