Mazda Hakaze Concept

The latest from Mazda’s Design Department – The Hakaze Concept. It flows with the rest of the Mazda Concepts – but can this “compact-coupe” hold its own with Taiki and Furai? Unveilings at last year’s Geneva Auto Show and 2008’s Melbourne International Motor Show may give MazdaPedia and everyone reading at home a hint.

You can almost hear Huey Lewis proclaim “Gotta get back in time…” as the gull-wing-type doors lift up like a mighty bird of prey taking flight. This elegant creature is no flying machine but the new addition to Mazda’s Nagare Design family. Hakaze is a “compact crossover coupe” complete with removable roof, high seating and a space age cabin that glows as if it’s breathing.

Mazda already has a few curvy cars on the market (the RX-8 most notably); it will be interesting to see if any of the Flow concepts make it into production…and how the final products will look. With all its glass and detachable pieces the Hakaze offers, one can bet a functional version will morph drastically from this conceptual stage. It is awesomely high-tech with electronic-only automatic doors (yes, sans-handle) and side/rear-view cameras replacing mirrors – probably not very practical for the average consumer. If nothing else, make sure to keep spare batteries for your keychain door opener. No word yet on having to store extra plutonium cells in your garage.

Looks are one thing, performance and the bottom line (i.e.: cost) are another. The DeLorean was both praised and criticized for sleek design and eclectic materials, but we all know what happened to the DMC. Not that we feel Mazda President and CEO Hisakazu Imaki will be caught with a briefcase full of illegal powder.

But the Hakaze Concept stands no bigger than a current favorite, the Mazda3 – which runs an MSRP between $13,895 to $19,895. Affordable, futuristic, eye-catching…looks like Mazda’s Hakaze should fit in nicely with their currently obsessed over design flow.

If only it came with a Hoverboard