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Mazda Furai concept designer talks about his car's passing

Last week, there was mourning at the Autoblog offices as word trickled in that the Mazda Furai concept - one of the coolest, best-looking showcars to grace an auto show stage since the wild and crazy 1960s -had been killed. It was killed on the track with the folks from Top Gear in attendance. We're sure the gods of driving would have wanted it to die on a circuit, but that doesn't make its fiery passing any easier to deal with.
The Furai is the rare concept car that had a lasting appeal with enthusiasts, partly because it was a real, functioning racecar, complete with a wacky three-rotor Wankel engine and cutting-edge Nagare design. Now that it's gone, though, Road & Track's Mallory McMorrow, who was an intern at Mazda Design when the Furai was being styled in 2007, has published an interview with one of the men who penned the Mazda showcar's striking exterior, Carlos Salaff. It's a great piece on the emotional connection between a designer and his creation, and one you should take the time to read. Click on over to R&T for the full story.

Mazda3 to showcase CNG, Hybrid versions in Tokyo

Mazda has made huge gains in its competitive set with the introduction of its Skyactiv technologies, and the Japanese automaker appears to have no plans on slowing down. While we're still waiting for the Mazda6 Skyactiv-D diesel to go on sale in the US, Mazda announced that it will debut new Skyactiv-Hybrid and Skyactiv-CNG versions of the Mazda3 (standard US-spec model shown above) at next month's Tokyo Motor Show.
Matching up with what we heard earlier in the summer, the Mazda3 Skyactiv-Hybrid is intended for Japan only, but there are no details about this system regarding fuel economy, electric components or specs. Likewise, there are no details for the Mazda3 Skyactiv-CNG Concept, which is a bi-fuel version of the car running on both gasoline and compressed natural gas. As this car's name suggests, the CNG model is a concept vehicle, and there is no indication that Mazda plans offering such a model here in the US.
In addition to these two vehicles, Mazda will also have an Atenza (Mazda6) on display showing off some vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) safety systems, called the ASV-5 (Advanced Safety Vehicle). Scroll down for Mazda's official press release.

Autoblog Podcast #396

Episode #396 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Steven Ewing, and Chris Paukert talk about the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata, the 2016 Jaguar XE, and the 2015 Lexus RC. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #396:
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