Lao Tzu famously penned, "the longest journey begins with a single step." But what if your journey never started with a step? What if it rolled. Mazda has always had innovation, style, uniqueness, and most of all fun at the core of every product it has ever created. Let's put a pin in that for a second.
Humans by nature are nomads with an unquenchable thirst for adventure — to go beyond where they are standing. The Vikings, Magellan, Lindbergh, Earhart, Armstrong — the list goes on. It is in our basic building blocks to go out and discover new places and worlds. Times may have changed; now everyone can discover new places in comfort, style, and ease thanks to the vast infrastructure of air travel and the internet. Explorers no longer bring what they need to survive against nature's worst elements. Explorers now bring sleek luggage, outfits chosen depending on mood and itinerary. Forget start-ups, bitcoin, apps, and venture capitalists — the luggage industry is an overlooked giant that deserves far more respect at the watering hole.
The global luggage market was valued at around $39 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach a staggering $60 billion by 2030 — a $20 billion increase in just seven years, driven by smart features, sustainable materials, and the eternal human need to go somewhere new.
For most of us, when we go to the airport we don't think too much about the bag we're carrying — we just hope it fits all our belongings and that we can squeeze it into the overhead compartment without making a scene. That bag is part of a multi-billion dollar global market booming thanks to rising incomes, shifting consumer preferences, and an insatiable demand for style, functionality, and technology. From mere function to fashion to status symbol. Because you can't just have a bag at the airport — you have to have people create a narrative for you as you walk by.
Airports. What is not to love about them? From an engineering standpoint they are modern marvels — large in size, but small micro-cities housing millions of people daily, getting them to and from all corners of the world in a controlled environment. Some airports offering you more than your local town.
As any seasoned flyer knows, sometimes getting to your gate is a serious trek. And unless you're Usain Bolt or fortunate enough to be escorted by a SkyCap golf cart, you risk a minor cardiac event just making your connection. Mazda, as only Mazda would, had a solution in mind — one designed to have you gracefully arrive at the gate in a calm, collected, relaxed state of mind. With your hair looking great.
"Mazda created the suitcase car. A suitcase that unfolded into a car that could be driven."
The Fantasyard Competition
This happened in the 1990s — a crazy and pivotal time in history. Technology was starting to catch up with imagination. The internet was happening. Optimism was in the air with the end of the Cold War. Home Alone, Goodfellas, and Terminator 2 were in theaters. People were loving life.
Mazda had just released the Miata — later named the MX-5 — the car that brought a much-needed wave of attention from buyers worldwide. And on top of the Miata's commercial success, Mazda had also just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the legendary 787B Renown — the first Japanese manufacturer to do so, and the only outright win ever taken by a car without pistons.
Mazda was winning, and it was oozing confidence much like me at an open bar at a wedding. Headquarters in Hiroshima was feeling the same effects. But instead of resting on its laurels, Mazda decided to hold an in-house competition between departments called "Fantasyard." The idea: come up with the most creative and inventive new forms of mobility. What a time to work at this company.
The result captured the buoyant mood inside a manufacturer already known for thinking differently — a culture that had never been afraid to go its own way. Encouraged to step beyond conventional development constraints, the project reflected Mazda's long-standing R&D philosophy: that innovation often emerges when engineers are given the freedom to explore ideas that are impractical, playful, or even deliberately strange.
Seven Engineers, One Samsonite
One iteration of the contest crowned a winner that was ingenious, more than a little strange, undeniably odd — but never lost sight of Mazda's core ethos: fun. The winning entry: a foldable car that would transform into a suitcase when not in use. The idea was born from seven unnamed engineers in the manual transmission R&D department, all of whom wanted a better way to get around the airport. They submitted the idea, and instead of having them committed, Mazda awarded them a small budget to make their dream a reality.
Half the team found the largest hard-shell Samsonite suitcase they could muster; the other half sourced a small three-wheeled motorized bike. The result was simple, clever, and delightfully bonkers: a 34cm³ two-stroke engine that somehow fit inside a 57×75cm hard-shell case. After some basic modifications — reinforcement bars for strength, a hidden panel for the front wheel — assembly took barely a minute.
Engine: 34cm³ two-stroke, single cylinder (Zenoa) · Top speed: 35 km/h · Power: 1.7 hp · Weight: 32 kg (70 lbs) · Fuel tank: 0.5 litres · Assembly time: under 1 minute
A little swing of the front wheel upright through the removable panel, pop in the rear wheels, clip the seat in above the rear axle — and you are now riding a motorized suitcase at 35 km/h, only to wait in line because you are in boarding group 8.
A Media Sensation
Weighing in at a hefty 32kg (70 lbs), this incognito suitcase was hardly airline-friendly — it would have to be checked in, which defeated the entire purpose, not to mention the gasoline it ran on would never pass security. But mass production was never the point. This was engineers letting loose in harmless competition.
Nevertheless, there is always an angle to be had. The so-called "convenient" and "portable" suitcase car went viral — earning Mazda a wave of attention as an accidental publicity stunt. The buzz was strong enough that not one but two additional versions were built: one for European shores and one for the US.
The European example shared the spotlight in 1991, sitting alongside the Le Mans–winning Mazda 787B Renown at an exhibition. And much like the tale of David and Goliath, it was the suitcase car — not the championship race car — that captured the crowd's attention. This time driven by curiosity and sheer whimsical fun.
"It was the suitcase car — not the Le Mans championship race car — that captured the crowd's attention."
Today, only the U.S. version survives. The original was destroyed in an accident. The European example vanished without a trace. This small, absurd creation — gifted to the world by a team of seven engineers with a modest budget and an enormous sense of humor — showed us the spirit, ingenuity, and ethos of Mazda. A company brave enough to defy convention, to hand engineers a budget and say go be strange, and to celebrate the result when they did. That spirit still runs through every vehicle they build today.
