Amati Cars

Export restrictions, and a growing demand for more luxurious vehicles within the Japanese Domestic Market, combined with a nearly bottomless supply of capital from the Japanese asset price bubble led Japanese automakers in the 1980s to focus less on building low-priced economy cars such as this 1983 Mazda 323 (left) and produce more luxurious, expensive and exotic vehicles such as this 1988 Mazda Cosmo (right)

Japanese automobiles began increasing in popularity in the United States during the 1970s as the market shifted towards small, economical cars following the 1973 oil crisis. Since the major American manufacturers General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler and American Motors (AMC) were ill-prepared for the shift, they began losing market share to Japanese manufacturers for the first time. By the end of the decade, Ford, Chrysler and AMC were in dire financial straits and were downsizing to try to stay afloat. Chrysler sought a government bailout with CEO Lee Iacocca negotiating $2 billion worth loan guarantees from the United States Congress in highly publicized hearings that made him a recognized public figure. His efforts were successful and the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act signed into law by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 saved the company from bankruptcy. French automaker Renault came to the rescue of AMC and purchased a majority share of the company in 1980. The American government subsequently began acting to protect the domestic automobile industry and in May 1981, President Ronald Reagan got the Japanese government to agree to a voluntary export restraint of 1.68 million vehicles a year to the United States.

With the restriction in place, the major Japanese automakers adjusted their business strategies. Instead of exporting large volumes of low-priced economy cars, they instead sought to use their limited allotment to export higher-priced vehicles while producing their lower-priced models in newly built factories within the United States. Increasing demand for more luxurious cars in Japan aided this adjustment and competition between the major automakers was fierce.[2] The excess liquidity within the economy as a result of the 1985 Plaza Accord currency equalization efforts, followed by the Louvre Accord in 1987 that contributed to the Japanese asset price bubble gave them nearly endless amounts of capital to use to develop these new vehicles, which were growing increasingly exotic as the decade waned.[2] For example, Jalopnik noted how the 1980 Datsun lineup was largely made up of basic economy cars and a compact pickup truck while the 1989 Nissan lineup included vehicles such as the Nissan 300ZX sports car, Nissan Maxima performance sedan, Nissan Cedric luxury sedan, Nissan Leopard personal luxury coupe, and the Nissan Pathfinder sport utility vehicle.[2] Honda, Toyota and Nissan began developing luxury vehicles specifically for sale in the United States, believing there would significant growth in the luxury car market there as the American economy recovered from the early 1980s recession and the baby boomer generation grew older and more affluent. Honda launched the Acura brand in 1986, Toyota and Nissan followed by launching their respective Lexus and Infiniti brands in 1989.

Mazda was largely undistinguished in the American market during the 1980s, leading many within the company's American operations to question the idea of Mazda creating a luxury division. However, the surprise success of the Miata roadster in the United States made them believe that Mazda could build the necessary cachet to make it work.

Despite being of a much smaller size and having significantly less resources than Toyota and Nissan, Mazda embarked on an aggressive expansion and diversification plan in the late 1980s with the goal of eventually becoming Japan's third biggest automaker. Domestically, Mazda launched the Autozam, Eunos, and ɛ̃fini brands and created the M2 car customization division. Seeing their rivals entering the American luxury market, Mazda began "Project Pegasus" at Mazda North American Operations in Irvine, California headquarters during 1988 to study creating an American-tailored luxury car of their own.[2] While Mazda was largely undistinguished in the American market at the time, the surprise success of the Mazda Miata roadster in America upon its spring 1989 launch emboldened the company, which planned to leverage it to build brand equity and attract new customers.[2] Project Pegasus became the Amati division in 1989, with executive Dick Colliver put in charge.[2] Shortly thereafter, Mazda acknowledged that it was studying building a luxury car to the Japanese press.[2] Another clue that Mazda was eyeing the luxury market came when they showcased a 4.0 litre (3981cc), 3-bank, naturally aspirated W12 DOHC gasoline-powered engine that was limited to 276 bhp (206 kW; 280 PS) per the Japan auto industry's gentlemen's agreement[4] at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show.[2] The W12 engine featured an aluminum engine block, Magnesium cylinder heads and oil pan,[2] and fitted with ceramic valves and pistons[2] (perhaps ceramic coated[2]). Each cylinder bank had a displacement of 1327 cc, or three proposed Mazda series B3 engines mated together at the crankshaft.[2] Though it is widely believed that this was the engine that was going to power the Amati 1000, former Mazda executive Bob Hall told Jalopnik in 2018 that the engine was just a mock up put out to misdirect the competition and was never a serious engineering study.[2] Rumors that Mazda was planning a luxury division persisted throughout 1990, which the company vehemently denied.[2] There was a significant gulf between how Mazda's Japanese and American operations handled the project; while the Japanese were pushing hard for it, completing development of the vehicles and tooling up a factory for production, the Americans were left to figure out how to make it work as a business.[2] Many among Mazda's American staff did not take the project seriously, believing it was just busywork the Japanese created to put Colliver "out to pasture."[2]

Mazda officially announced Amati at an August 1991 press conference[1][2] to launch in spring 1994.[5] The division was going to be headquartered at Mazda North American Operations in Irvine and unlike its rivals, Mazda planned to sell the vehicles within its existing dealerships.[5] Mazda did not reveal any details about the cars themselves at the conference, opting to emulate Infiniti's early marketing strategies of keeping the cars under wraps to build anticipation among the public.[1] Mazda claimed the name Amati came from the Latin expression "to love" and said it would invoke the thought of "the multicolored tapestry of a sunset...the delicate feel of fingertips on cashmere...the tartness of a ripe apple...the loving aroma of Thanksgiving turkey roasting in Grandma’s oven.”[1] Analysts at the time noted that "Amati" was an anagram of "Miata" and wondered if the new vehicles would be inspired by the roadster.[1] Reception to the announcement was mixed, with some industry analysts expressing skepticism that Mazda had the resources to support a separate luxury division and fears that the American luxury car market was becoming over saturated.[1][5] Mazda's announcement of the Amati division came two weeks after two would-be competitors, Peugeot and Sterling, announced they were leaving the American market.[1]

Mazda benchmarked the Lexus LS400 when developing the Amati 1000

Contemporary media reports only spoke of two sedans being sold under the nameplate[1][5] but retrospective reports speak of three or possibly four vehicles being launched under the Amati brand.[2][6][7] The compact Amati 300 was going to be an American adaptation of the Eunos 500 sedan which began production at the Hofu plant in early 1992 and was released later that year for the Japanese and international markets. The mid-size Amati 500 was more ambitious, containing a supercharged miller cycle engine and Yaw controlled four-wheel steering. It went into production as the Eunos 800 at the Hofu plant later in 1992 and was released for sale in the Japanese and international markets in 1993. The brand's flagship was the enigmatic Amati 1000, which was never unveiled to the public nor were any specifications published, though the Australian car magazine Wheels published exterior and interior renderings of it in December 1992, two months after Amati was cancelled.[8] Bob Hall described it as strongly resembling a 1991 Mazda 929, but with fatter pillars and a long, horizontal hood. It was slightly longer than the 929 and had more room in the back seat.[2] According to Hall, the 1000 was going to be powered by a V12 created by combining two K V6 engines into a new 12 cylinder block while sharing the K engine's valvetrain.[2] Hall told Jalopnik in 2018, "They had done a 3.6 of the two 1.8s. The block was designed up to a 5.0-liter. North America would be a 4.6 from two 2.3s.”[2] According to Hall, running prototypes of the 1000 were made, which had 280 bhp (209 kW; 284 PS) and an exhaust note reminiscent of a Ferrari.[2] Regarding its performance, Hall said that compared to the Lexus LS400, the Amati 1000 was slower going from 0-60 miles per hour (97 km/h) but was faster accelerating in passing maneuvers from 60 to 80 miles per hour (97 to 129 km/h).[2] Early reports speculated that Mazda was developing a luxury coupe based on the Mazda Cosmo that would have competed against the Lexus SC400, but these were not substantiated and its possible those reporters were simply describing the significantly more luxurious Eunos Cosmo that launched for the Japanese market in 1990.

The Amati 500 is the only Amati vehicle to actually go on sale in the United States. When the Amati brand was cancelled in October 1992, it was already entering production for the Japanese and international market as the Eunos 800. It would go on sale in the United States in early 1994, where it was sold as the Mazda Millenia.

Shortly after the Amati brand was announced to the public in August 1991, the Japanese asset price bubble burst and by early 1992 the Japanese economy had collapsed into a lengthy period of depression and stagnation that later became known as the Lost Decade. At the same time, the American economy entered into a less severe recession of its own in the aftermath of the Gulf War, significantly depressing luxury car sales and the car market in general. With the Japanese economy in freefall, credit markets tightened, car sales plunged and Mazda found itself with a shortage of liquidity.[9][2][3] Mazda had overextended itself and found it could not support all of the new car lines it had launched in the years prior.[2] Bob Hall recounted to Jalopnik how the then-new Mazda factory in Flat Rock, Michigan (which then built the Mazda MX-6, Mazda 626 and Ford Probe) had many quality issues which Mazda's Japanese management blamed on the incompetence of the plant's American labor force until the same issues started appearing in Mazda's Japanese plants as well.[2] Mazda began devoting less and less money to the Amati project, which they had already invested at least 50 billion yen into,[2] prompting Colliver to eventually tell the Japanese that they did not have enough money to launch the brand. The decision to cancel Amati was made when Mazda realized it did not have the $50 million needed to put the Amati 1000 into production.[2] With profits projected to be down by at least two thirds at the end of the fiscal year,[3] Mazda announced on October 20, 1992 that the Amati brand had been cancelled.[9][2][3] At the same time, they announced a major reduction in their investment in motor sports, ending the program that saw Mazda win the 24 Hours of LeMans with the 787B race car just the year before.[2] At the time, two of the vehicles the Amati division planned to sell were already in production for the Japanese and international markets, running prototypes of the Amati 1000 were being tested, the Hofu plant was tooled up and ready to build the Amati V12 engine, 67 dealerships[1][2][3] were signed up to sell the cars and Mazda had already budgeted $60 million to the California advertising firm Lord, Dentsu & Partners to create a marketing campaign for the brand.[3] Marketing materials and brochures had already been prepared, small pieces of which have made their way to the public in the years since.[2] Colliver laid off nearly all of the Amati program's staff, remarking that they had "researched their way out of a job".[2][10] Colliver himself would retire from Mazda in 1994.[10][2] The Ford Motor Company, which owned a 24% stake in Mazda, bought an additional 12% in 1995 to give Mazda an injection of fresh capital. Ford then dispatched executives over to Mazda to help them return to profitability.[2] The Autozam, Eunos, and ɛ̃fini brands would all be discontinued before the end of the decade.