HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Ikuo Maeda, the new design chief at Mazda Motor Corp., earned the nickname "Speedy" for his lead-footed driving on the race course and off.


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He may be the only standing auto executive to have had his license revoked -- twice. It's only natural then that Maeda, who took the design reins last April, views himself as the rightful guardian of Mazda's zoom-zoom brand heritage. And he has the bloodline to prove it. Not only did Maeda design the bold, muscular silhouette of today's RX-8 sports car. But a generation before, his father -- himself a Mazda stylist -- designed the RX-8's spiritual ancestor, the original RX-7. "I was a real car lover long before I started designing cars," Maeda said in an interview at Mazda's headquarters in this western Japanese port city. "There are lots of car enthusiasts at Mazda, but I think I'm at the top."

Source: Mazda design chief gives new meaning to zoom-zoom