Tom Matano

Tom Matano’s Miata Front Design sketch, 1984. Early idea sketch of the front end. “Finned Oilpan” was one of his favorite details, yet to be recognized on Miata, FD RX-7.

Story by Brandes Elitch
Photos courtesy Tom Matano

About a dozen years ago, I commuted to downtown San Francisco from Sonoma County, an arduous drive which entailed crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and coming down Van Ness Street to get to the financial district. Every morning, I would try to catch a glimpse of the showroom at the Academy of Art, which housed one of the most spectacular car collections anywhere in the world. But I never got the chance to pay a proper visit.

That changed when I was given an introduction to Tom Matano. It was a great honor as Tom Matano is a very special person. In addition to being the Chief Designer at Mazda and responsible for notable designs such as the Mazda RX-7, Mazda MX-5, the Miata “M-Coupe” concept car, Tom was the Executive Director of the Academy of Art University’s School of Industrial Design since 2002. After many years, he stepped down in January 2025 and is now Director Emeritus.

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Story by Brandes Elitch

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Academy of Art showroom in San Francisco. I had just come over the Golden Gate Bridge in morning rush hour traffic, which requires quick reflexes and nerves of steel. I went up Lombard and turned on Van Ness, still a little dazed from the drive, which is kind of like open wheel racing. During the twenties and thirties, this is where all the great automobile showrooms were located, and some of them still exist today in their mostly original form. At the intersection of Van Ness and Washington, I idly looked to my right and saw a mirage: a thirties showroom with period cars in the showroom window, except that they were not like any cars there before – Bugatti, Delahaye, Delage, Alfa Romeo, Minerva, Daimler, Duesenberg, Packard – it looked like the lawn at Pebble Beach. I was transfixed, and then rudely summoned from my reverie by a horn in back of me. What is this place, I wondered. [Read more…] about Learn the Art of Restoration at Academy of Art