Many people don’t realize that Mazda has a heritage museum connected to their factory in Hiroshima, Japan. Unfortunately most of us will never get the opportunity to visit it. Luckily Mazda and Google have partnered together to take Google Street View into the Mazda Heritage Museum for a virtual tour. Below is the press release from Mazda.

Fans of everything Zoom-Zoom can now save a significant chunk of money: instead of flying to Japan to visit the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Mazda aficionados can now “tour” the museum virtually. The museum has been added to Google Street View, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to see all of the displays.

The Mazda Museum is divided into several sections, most of which are visible online. The entrance hall leads to the history wing, which features classic vehicles and other displays showing Mazda innovations since 1920. Another area is dedicated to the Mazda rotary engine, famous for its role in sports cars like the RX-7 and RX-8.

The museum’s technology hallway shows off various engines and details the assembly process for all new Mazda products. Finally, the future wing shows concept cars and other explorations of future Mazda vehicles. The only areas unavailable on Google Street View are the gift shop and the observation deck that looks out on a Mazda production line.

Of course, visiting the Mazda Museum in person is the only way to read the signs that go along with each display, or to receive one of the guided tours. Nonetheless, browsing the collection virtually is significantly cheaper and can be accomplished from the comfort of one’s own home… or office.

Source: Mazda