Mazda MX-0 Debuts At Los Angeles Auto Show

Take a look at Mazda's entry into the latest Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge. The design was created by Derik Jenkins, Tim Brown, Minyong Lee, Carlos Salaff, Jacques Flynn, Greg Lee, Paul Muzio, Dave Coleman, Julien Montousse. This most recent challenge was all about eco-friendliness and efficiency in a four passenger vehicle that could only weigh in at 1000 pounds. Mazda's team came through the with a design they named the MX-0. It's a 999 pound electric automobile that looks like it could cut you.

Mazda 's designers started with the frame of the MX-5 Miata. It's already one of the lightest cars on the consumer market, but they took it a step further and cut weight everywhere weight could be cut. With the 1000 pound limit set in place for the design challenge, they were able to lighten parts throughout the entire design. Once they got the frame light enough, the weight savings cascaded naturally through the rest of the design. They married this lightened chassis to an array of powerful electric motors for the clean and earth-safe drive of tomorrow.

They stripped everything down and introduced cutting-edge composite materials to keep the weight as low as possible without sacrificing safety or style. Carlos Salaff, a senior designer at Mazda, mentioned the Baypreg® F sandwich, using recycled paper as the core. This isn't a current use of recycled paper fibers, but it highlights a way to make this car even more eco-friendly should it come to showroom floors near you.

Check out the other designs from the LA Auto Show here.

[via Yanko Design]