The beautiful Mazda Furai Concept car has suffered a most untimely death at the hands of none other than Top Gear.
The magazine was driving the one-off prototype as part of their 20th anniversary issue when the car caught fire and burnt to a crisp. It is unknown at this stage why the fire occurred.
Top Gear has released a statement saying, "forgive us, for we have sinned. Top Gear is responsible for the untimely demise of the quite remarkable Mazda Furai Concept, and we're very, very sorry."
The Furai, meaning 'sound of the wind,' was unveiled at the 2008 New York International Auto Show in Detroit. Powered by a 20B three-rotor wankel rotary engine producing 340kW of power and mated to a six-speed X-Trac semi-automatic transmission, the futuristic Furai was the last in the line of Mazda's 'Nagare' concept cars beginning in 2006.
The car was adorned with the competition number '55', as a tribute to Mazda's 1991 Le Mans winning 787B.
