Once you arrive at your destination via plane, it can be a drag waiting for a rental car. Why not bring your own with a replica of the Mazda suitcase car?
The heady days of the 90s brought us many wild vehicles from Japan, and in 1991, Mazda built three prototype go carts built inside Samsonite suitcases as a potential rival to the Honda Motocompo. After some appearances on the talk show circuit, two of the prototypes were destroyed, and the world moved on. [Bucket] felt wistful about the vehicle and decided it was time to build his own since the only remaining example is in collector hands, although they were able to reach out to the owner for more information on how the original prototypes functioned.
Using a very small gas motor from a pocket rocket and a welded aluminum frame inside the suitcase, the builders managed to beat the stated top speed of the original, hitting 33 kph (20 mph) before the driver decided things were getting too frightening. The final build tips the scales at 56.8 lbs, so some further refinement might even get it under the 50 lb airline limit.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first suitcase-sized go cart we’ve seen. We wonder if a ride-able suitcase hovercraft is next?
