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If you’re anything like us, you have an affinity for the Honda Motocompacto and its gas-powered inspiration, the Motocompo. But did you know that Honda wasn’t the only company to design a “last mile” urban mobility scooter in the 1980s? Others dabbled in this weird little niche, including Mazda.
Let’s rewind to 1989. That was the year stamped on the original shock housings I removed from my 1990 Mazda Miata—which was then brand-spankin’-new. Eunos was happening. Yeah, we could have had Mazda’s version of Acura or Infiniti, but alas, the landscape was shifting rapidly. Despite all of the economic headwinds facing the industry as it transitioned into the 1990s, it was an incredibly exciting time to be a car enthusiast, and Japanese automakers especially were keen to capitalize on that energy.
Much like today, car companies circa 1990 sought new and unique methods for stimulating the creativity of their design and engineering departments. The same sort of brainstorming effort that spawned the Motocompacto in 2023 was also the genesis for Mazda’s aptly (if simplistically) named “Suitcase Car” concept.
The name was also quite literal. Mazda’s team slapped the Suitcase Car together from a 30×22-inch Samsonite suitcase and a 34cc two-stroke engine. It made about 1.5 horsepower and was capable of a top speed of nearly 20 mph. Like the modern Motocompacto, the Suitcase Car required some final assembly before each trip, including fixing the rear wheels and seat to the suitcase “chassis.” You could even fit headlights! A demonstration on The Oprah Winfrey Show, of all places, shows the contraption in action:
Just like the original gas-powered Honda Motocompo, Mazda’s diminutive creation was intended to function as a supplement to your normal automotive routine, not an out-and-out replacement. Its fold-away design made it possible to store the scooter in your trunk and, theoretically, easy to stash upon reaching your final destination. Unfortunately, while the suitcase car was compact, at a whopping 70 pounds (!) it definitely wasn’t light, and the notion of somebody heaving this thing through a corporate lobby is pretty amusing. Could you imagine lifting that into the trunk of your Miata in 1989?
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