By David Ponce

So this thing’s been around since the dawn of time itself, before Creation itself… circa 1991-1994. Doesn’t matter though. The Suitcase Car

was first produced in Japan in 1991 as part of a contest held at Mazda’s Engineering department. The idea was simply to have a 3-wheeled car inside a suitcase. The original suitcase car was destroyed in a car park just a few months after it was built but the vehicle was rebuilt in a black suitcase in 1994. (The original case being red)

Powered by a 40cc two stroke engine the vehicle holds enough fuel for around two hours of driving at speeds up to 27 mph. It is built around a small steel chassis and is steered by handlebars. It also includes head lamps for night time driving and functional brake lights and indicators to warn other road users of your actions.

No, no, you don’t get to buy one. You just get to think “Huh! Would you look at that! A car in a suitcase.” And then you go on with your day, obsessively revisiting OhGizmo for updates.

Story VIA Fosfor Gadgets. Bunch of pictures right here.

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5 COMMENTS

  3. Uh, Michael, follow the link that says “Bunch of pictures right here”.

    *cough* RTFM *cough*

    In other news… I want one. I really, really want one. Do I care that it has no roll cage, no protection from other traffic, and only goes 27 mph (more than slow enough to get overtaken by bicycles and crushed by city buses here in the San Francisco area)?

    Hell, no!

    Can it do donuts, though? 😀

  4. Mini? Koffer-auto!

    Dacht je dat een Mini compact is? Wij kijken al vooruit naar de het nieuwe segment; de koffer klasse. Nouja, vooruit, deze wedstrijd voor Mazda ingenieurs dateert alweer uit de jaren ’90. Mazda schreef namelijk in 1991 een wedstrijd voor…

  5. nice of webpark.ru to swipe all the photos from our website for use on theirs.

    I personally took all those photos and posted them after the 2004 National Meet of the Microcar & Minicar Club in Long Beach CA.
    In fact, if you Google MAZDA SUITCASE CAR you will find more info from our website.

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