Tsutomu ‘Tom’ Matano, the legendary designer behind the original NA chassis Mazda MX-5, has passed away at age 76. He graduated as an engineer from the Seikei University, and eventually moved on to the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1970. He joined as a chief designer for Mazda North America, a development center in the same state. It was there that he helped pen the design of the first-generation Miata. His work was what helped pave the way for the Mazdas that we know of today.