Yoshihiko Matsuo

[26th-Z]

I am saddened to learn that Yoshihiko Matsuo passed away, aged 86, on July 11.

[S30Driver]

This is indeed very sad news.  His memory will live on in the iconic cars he created. 

[SteveJ]

That is very sad news. He really enjoyed coming to the US for ZCON. I was talking with Eiji Hosami prior to Matsuosan's tech talk at ZCON 2018. Eiji told me that over in Japan, Matsuosan is just another grandfather, but when he comes over here, he is a rock star.

[26th-Z]

Yea, sorry to be the bearer.  From what I saw on Facebook, he just celebrated his birthday.  I recall sitting in a bar with him at a ZCON in Long Beach.  I enjoyed a certain sort of connection with him, designer to designer, when he took out a pen and started sketching.  I still have some some of his sketches. 

[SteveJ]

I had the privilege of helping him create the slide deck he used for his talk at ZCON 2018. He could certainly tell some good stories.

[SteveJ]

By the way @zclocks, I showed Matsuo-san your website when I was helping him with preparation for his tech talk in 2018, and the subject came up about the rally clocks IIRC. He was pleasantly surprised with your work, and he asked me to make a print-out of your website for him. 

[240260280]

So sad:(

[motorman7]

How incredibly sad ?.  He will be greatly missed.

Always enjoyed my conversations and time with him.  

Just one story: It always amused me that at the ZCON judged shows (and other car shows) he would walk around and touch parts, open doors, turn lights off and on, etc.  Nobody else could get away with that but him.  In fact most consider it an honor that he handled the cars.

[jfa.series1]

My Matsuo-san story dates back to the 2015 ZCON in Memphis, my first such convention. It was the wash day morning and Matsuo was strolling around the parking lot observing all the cars getting cleaned. He stopped by my car as I was desperately trying to get it dried before water spots could take a set.  He began sharing the story of the origins of the hatch strut. He said they took the concept from the canopy strut of the elegant French Mirage aircarft but it was a relatively expensive piece to build. As a designer they had to fight the accountants to move forward with the part. When they suggested the car would benefit from two struts, the bean counters made it clear they would make do with one! He also spoke briefly about the inclusion of carpets for the US market, stating that although they might be able get away with rubber mats in Japan that would not be the case for the US-bound cars and even then they had to settle for less costly looped-style carpet over a higher cost cut pile product. He chuckled about the ongoing battles with the bean counters throughout the entire design and build process.

He was indeed a wonderful and entertaining personality and we are all so very fortunate to have had him in our Z car history.

[siteunseen]

Is he the guy that spoke at the awards dinner in Memphis? I think Eiji translated for him. I remember some good laughs from the crowd as he spoke and a lot of clapping when he left the podium.

[SteveJ]

26 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

Is he the guy that spoke at the awards dinner in Memphis? I think Eiji translated for him. I remember some good laughs from the crowd as he spoke and a lot of clapping when he left the podium.

Yes, that was him. He got even more laughs in 2018 when he was explaining the unusual number of car seats breaking in America due to Americans having sex in the cars.

[26th-Z]

My seats held up!