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A German car dealer has opened the first museum outside Japan dedicated to Mazda cars.
Mazda Classic - Automobil Museum Frey is supported by Mazda Germany and represents nearly 100 years of the company's history with a display of 45 vehicles.
The collection is based in a refurbished tram depot building in the Bavarian town of Augsburg. Current highlights include examples of Mazda's first mass-produced passenger car, the 1960 R360, a 1962 K360 three-wheeled light truck and the 1992 AZ-1 mid-engined Kei car with gullwing doors. Rotary-engined models are well represented; including a 1967 Cosmo Sport, several generations of RX7, a Parkway bus and rotary-engined pick-up truck.
All the cars come from the personal collection of the Frey family, who have been Mazda dealers since 1978. Walter Frey and his sons Markus and Joachim have personally restored many of the cars in the collection. In total the family has over 120 vehicles, which gives plenty of scope to change the displays in the museum.
Mazda Motor Corporation Executive Vice President Akira Marumoto commented; "Uniquely impressive, the first Mazda museum outside Japan represents a dream come true for the Frey family to share with the public its one-of-a-kind collection of vintage Mazdas from around the world. Everyone at Mazda headquarters is very proud that the Freys are a part of our organisation and have created something so extraordinary."