The Furai's chassis was based on the Courage Compétition C65 Le Mans Prototype that Mazda last used to compete in the American Le Mans Series two seasons previously. The concept also had an eye toward the future and ongoing environmental responsibility through the use of renewable fuels. Driving toward sustainability, Furai was tuned to operate on 100 per cent ethanol - the first time a high performance three-rotor engine has been fuelled by ethanol. it was powered by a new generation 20B 3-rotor wankel engine that put out 450 brake horsepower (340 kW). Unlike many concept cars, the Furai was fully functional and was tested at various tracks.
In September 2013, it was revealed that the car had been destroyed by fire during road tests by Top Gear in 2008. (wikipedia & mazda.com.au)
(Photos from autoblog.com, autowp.ru & mazda.com.au)
The Mazda Nagare Design Language Concept Cars (2006 - 2009)
Under the direction of Mazda’s new global design director, Laurens van den Acker, the challenge given to the team was to invent a novel means of registering motion in vehicles whether they’re moving or still. Nagare achieves that goal while also signaling a fresh design direction for future Mazda vehicles. (mazda.com.au)
The other six concept cars in the Mazda Nagare Design Language Line
Nagare: Japanese for flow (2006)
Ryuga: Japanese for gracious flow (2006)
Hakaze: Japanese for "leaf wind"(2007)
Taiki: Japanese for ‘atmosphere’ (2007)
Kiyora: Japanese for ‘clean and pure’ (2008)
Kazamai: Japanese for “swirling crosswinds” (2009)
(Photos from mazda.com.au & autowp.ru)