Luce 1000/1500

By 1962, the Japanese carmakers had turned towards Italy almost en masse. It started with a Prince Skyline by Michelotti, and soon Nissan was turning to Pininfarina, and Daihatsu to Vignale. Toyo Kogyo (the future Mazda) consulted with Hideyuki Miyakawa, a journalist, entrepreneur and globetrotter who had found home and love in Italy, on their passenger car aspirations. Miyakawa suggested Bertone. The Luce 1000/1500 was shown at the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show. Those fender badges and the Italian name marked this as the first public manifestation of the collaboration between Mazda and Bertone.