On January 30, 2011 the Japan Classic Car Association held its "2011 New Year Meeting" in Aomi, Odaiba Tokyo. The fine weather during the morning turned grey and eventually to snow by late afternoon.
A huge number of enthusiasts and fans gathered for this classic car event. The Cosmo Sports Owner's Club exhibited their cars and had many of their members on hand. Two historic Mazda cars, the Cosmo Sport and Savanna RX-3 were exhibited beside the club's tent while parts and goods were sold in front of the tent.
Many classic car fans, including Cosmo Sports lovers, Rotary enthusiasts and general Mazda fans stopped by the tent, gazed at the cars, goods and parts, and took pictures. It was clear they enjoyed themselves a lot.
1 of 5 PAGES
Take a look at the license plate of the exhibited Cosmo Sport. This is a temporary license plate from Augsburg, Germany. It is evidence that the car participated in the European Cosmo Sports Meeting as one of fourteen Cosmo Sport examples from Japan.
The car was shipped to Germany by Mazda's export shipper and was the first car to go touring abroad with support from Mazda Germany. During the tour, the party went to Switzerland to visit the former house of Mr. Wankel, the father of the rotary engine. We can expect that the unfamiliar appearance of the Cosmo Sports party on the continent garnered a lot of attention from Europeans.
2 of 5 PAGES
Mr. Walter Frey, (middle) is a committee member of the European Cosmo Sports Meeting, while on the left is his son Mr. Markus Frey, and on the right Mr. Kurt Hofstetter. They hadn't been to Japan for three years and very much enjoyed meeting with Japanese club members.
Mr. Frey manages a Mazda dealership in Augsburg, southern Germany. Both Mr. Frey and his son are Cosmo Sport owners. Mr. Walter Frey said, "There are only seven 110S Cosmo Sports in Europe, and ours are the only two in Germany. It is a very rare car. What's the attraction? "The rotary engine. We drive them over 3,000km every year." Mr. Kurt Hofstetter also manages a Mazda dealership, in Switzerland.
3 of 5 PAGES
Glenn and Valerie Roberts came from the U.S. They manage a body shop in Arizona. Their shop repairs high-end sports cars and restores racing cars.
There are only two Cosmo Sport examples in the US. Mr. Roberts has restored both of them and gave one to Mazda North American Operations.
He showed his completely restored and brilliant Cosmo Sport via his iPad. "The difficult thing when restoring these cars is finding parts. The Cosmo Sports owners around the world are all very nice people. That's what attracts me," he commented.
4 of 5 PAGES
The Cosmo Sports Owner's Club was established in 1977. It has 130 members and 11 branches in Japan. Their activities include driving events at racetracks, participating in historic events, and their annual all-Japan meeting. They also reported on their activities to Mazda's headquarters, Hiroshima, in last year.
The members' average age is around 50 years of age. There are also some young members who have taken over ownership of Cosmo Sports. Their worldwide communications also have been getting rich. We hope they keep and love their Cosmo Sports, a world-class and extraordinary sports car, and introduce its beautiful flowing design and wonderful rotary sound to the future.
Information about the Cosmo Sports Owner's Club can be found at:(http://cosmosport.net/)
