Tsutomu Matano, the visionary designer behind the original Mazda MX-5 Miata (NA) and a key influence on the third-generation RX-7, has passed away at the age of 77. Born in Nagasaki in 1947, Matano studied engineering in Japan before pursuing design at California’s ArtCenter College of Design, where immersion in U.S. car culture shaped his philosophy.

The death of Tsutomu “Tom” Matano, the father of the Miata, is not merely the loss of a man but the dimming of an era. In an age when cars have become bloated with screens, sensors, and software, Matano’s vision was an antidote — a return to purity, to joy, to the communion between driver, machine, and road.

Born in Nagasaki, shaped by California’s car culture, he carried within him the paradox of East and West, restraint and exuberance, tradition and rebellion. His Miata and RX-7 were not just vehicles; they were expressions of an ideal, reminders that beauty and simplicity can still triumph over cynicism and utility.

He was, above all, a human presence — beaming, generous, unpretentious — who gave to the world not simply designs but delight. His passing is a reminder of how rare such figures are, and how fragile is the spirit they embody. The road continues without him, but emptier, a little colder, illuminated only by the memory of what he created: machines that carried within them the joy of being alive.