With their entertaining weekly newsletter the good people of "Hemmings" have again made me aware of something I hadn't known, in this case the existence of "a superb online museum from Mazda". Actually, it's a real museum in Japan but unlike many manufacturer's collections, "Mazda" has chosen to let the world explore in the comfort of their own home. Which, as Hemmings pointed out, saves a lot of time and money, to say nothing of many hours squirming in a coach class seat. The Mazda site is comprehensive in revealing, not only the cars, but also engines, detailed images and an excellent timeline that goes all the way back to 1920. Yes, the company has been around a lot longer than the RX7, the starting point for most younger driver's knowledge of this marque.

As you scroll through its story you'll come to realise that Mazda has long been interested in performance cars and was one of the pioneering Wankel rotary engine license holders. In fact, it is the only car company to show its faith by continuing to produce the Wankel. Your writer, being of a certain age group, was aware of Mazda well before the sensational RX7 arrived on our roads, and so cars like the RX5 Cosmos, shown here from the Mazda Museum collection, are familiar to me. However many of the vehicles in this historic collection were not, thus I enjoyed "virtually" "strolling through the museum". Rest assured you will, too.