For a quarter of a century, an 80-year-old woman from Nagasaki, Japan treated her silver 1999 Mazda RX-7 like a trusted companion rather than a machine. She drove it almost every day, kept it in remarkably clean condition, and quietly racked up memories instead of big mileage. When she finally handed the keys back to Mazda after 25 years, it was less a sale and more a carefully planned goodbye.
Her name is Naoko Nishimoto, and her decision to return her pristine sports car to the company that built it turned a private story into a global one. The way she balanced passion, practicality, and respect for the car explains why this particular RX-7 is now being talked about as a piece of living automotive history rather than just a well kept used coupe.
The grandmother, the RX-7, and 25 years of routine
Naoko Nishimoto is described as an 80-year-old driver from Nagasaki who bought her FD-generation Mazda RX-7 at age 55, after falling for its looks and its growing status in Japanese car culture. Reports note that she was inspired by the car’s iconic presence in cult media, and that decision at 55 set up a relationship that would last decades. She chose a 1999 model with a manual transmission, a car that enthusiasts now chase at auction, but for her it was simply the right mix of style and feel behind the wheel.
Instead of treating the RX-7 as a weekend toy, Nishimoto used it as a genuine daily driver. Coverage of her story explains that she drove it Monday through Saturday, usually for errands and grocery runs, gradually accumulating 77,500 km rather than the six-figure odometer reading you might expect after 25 years. That relatively low mileage, combined with her careful use, is a big part of why the car is being described as pristine rather than merely well preserved.
Why she chose to give the car back
The turning point came when Nishimoto, now widely identified as an 80-year-old owner, started to think seriously about age and safety. One account describes how Naoko Nishimoto, an 80-year-old from Nagasaki, Japan, made the bittersweet decision to stop driving and return her beloved Mazda RX to the manufacturer. She was not pushed into it by an accident or a mechanical failure, but by her own sense that it was time to step away from the driver’s seat while she could still do so on her own terms.
That choice turned into something larger than a simple trade-in. Another report describes how an 80-Year-Old owner decided that the best home for her FD RX was back with the company, effectively framing the move as “Old Woman Donates Her FD RX To Mazda” rather than a sale. The story notes that the car had spent 25 years on the road but still carried low miles, and that she had used it as a regular car from Monday through Saturday, details that underline why returning it to Mazda felt more like handing back a carefully kept time capsule than disposing of an old vehicle.
Social posts from Japan add more color, describing how an 80-year-old woman from Nagasaki handed over her cherished 1999 Mazda RX-7 after driving it daily for 25 years, a car she first bought in her fifties and kept in unusually clean condition. One such account highlights an 80-year-old woman from Nagasaki and her Mazda RX, framing the handover as a moment that resonated with car fans who saw their own aging parents and grandparents in her decision.
How Mazda turned a goodbye into a tribute
Once Mazda learned the full story behind the car, the company did not just park it quietly in a back lot. Instead, it built a small documentary project around what it called “RX-7: 25 Years of Memories, Three Days of Farewell, and the Parting Gift of a Dear Friend,” focusing on Naoko Nishimoto, a resident of Nagasaki, and the way her life intertwined with the coupe. The film follows those “Years of Memories, Three Days of Farewell, Parting Gift of, Dear Friend” as she visits the factory and shares her feelings about letting go, a narrative captured in Mazda’s own documentary coverage.
Another detailed account describes how the brand marked the handover as “the most emotional farewell behind the wheel,” noting that a Japanese woman gave Mazda her 1999 manual Mazda RX-7 on her birthday after 25 years and that the company responded with flowers and an unforgettable tribute. That report explains that after 25 years and roughly the same 77,500 km mentioned elsewhere, she was finally able to meet some of the people who built the car, turning a simple return into a celebration of the farewell itself.
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