Japanese Grandma Goes Viral As the Owner of a 24-Year-Old Mazda RX-7

Naoka Nishimoto gained internet fame recently after a report about her 24-year-old Mazda RX-7 hit FNN in Japan.

The septuagenarian turns 80 in December 2024 and according to the slipshod translation work by Google on the Japanese news reporting, Ms Nishimoto will have to stop driving her beloved RX-7 when she turns 80.

As a last hurrah with her beloved car she went on a tour to capture memories with her companion, from cherry blossoms in spring, to cloudy days in summer.

She admits to having a love for cars since a young age and when asked about her reasons for getting the Mazda RX-7 she says she first saw the car through the manga Initial D (boy, didn’t we all).

Her son was watching the anime when the car appeared and she instantly fell in love. She looked for the car at all the dealerships in Nagasaki and eventually bought one at the ripe age of 55.

Now, 24 years later, the Mazda RX-7 will be retired and according to the report, it will be handed over to Mazda headquarters as a showpiece.

The immaculate condition of the car and its one owner means that it still retains quite a high value. A quick check on a local reseller site showed that the car is worth RM300,000 now at least in Malaysia.

There’s nothing like the connection one feels with their car and as cars move from objects of pleasure into objects of utility, i.e., toasters on wheels, we fear these stories will become just another relic of the past.

While we’re still here, we’re going to continue fighting to good fight for ICE vehicles and we hope one day, when we’re 55 too, we’ll be able to buy the car of our dreams and drive still enjoy it for 24 years.