Mazda suitcase car proved good things really do come in small packages
Published on Jun 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM (UTC-4)
by Keelin McNamara
Last updated on Jun 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM (UTC-4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
Mazda is one of Japan’s biggest car brands.
It is also one of the world’s most respected and enduring manufacturers.
The 1990s saw Mazda push itself in terms of innovation.
And it led to the creation of an actual suitcase car.
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Mazda is a brand that very much prides itself on standing out from the crowd.
For one thing, it’s the only major car brand in the world that still uses the Wankel Rotary engine.
The last competitors to also follow this design gave it up back in the 1970s.
In an insistence on standing out from the crowd, Mazda has endured with this iconic engine.
It also decided to truly challenge itself back in the 1990s.
Back in 1991, Mazda held an internal competition among its engineers.
It did that in order to inspire creativity and innovation within the brand.
A group of seven Mazda engineers broke off from the rest and got to work.
And the end result of their work was nothing short of genius.
The engineers presented a standard Samsonite suitcase. Yes, car engineers, and yes, a suitcase.
It was when they unzipped the 32kg suitcase that the true genius revealed itself.
Those visionary engineers managed to make a fully functioning, three-wheeled car. Inside the suitcase. It’s a suitcase car!
They’d used parts from a 50cc Honda scooter.
It resulted in a three-wheeled vehicle that could be folded out and driven up to 18MPH
In order to deploy this suitcase car, you needed to follow a few simple steps.
Firstly, the user had to unzip the suitcase, of course, and then unfold the internal frame within.
Then, you simply attach the handlebars and the wheels to the suitcase car.
Sadly, this stroke of engineering genius was only ever intended as a one-off.
It meant that the public never got to see this brilliant idea on a large scale.
However, it does serve as a reminder of the innovation and creativity that can come from the right challenge.
