The announcement of Akira Toriyama’s death on March 8 prompted a flood of farewells from fans of the manga artist’s many creations. Toriyama died at the age of 68 on March 1 due to an acute subdural hematoma, and fans are mourning the late character designer, who was so beloved around the world that he was knighted in France in 2019. As a lifelong fan of Toriyama, it’s my duty to light a candle for him before the altar of St. Goku, and to remember the artist by sharing some of his best automotive art.
Akira Toriyama’s most famous creation was the Dragon Ball series and its spinoffs, which started out as a manga and later turned into an anime. But Toriyama’s art is also behind games such as Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest, as well as lesser-known titles like The Adventures of Tongpoo and Dr. Slump.
One thing these all have in common is a love and enthusiasm for automobiles, motorcycles and spaceships, which is apparent in renditions of the machines — some real, some fictional — that populated Toriyama’s worlds. So, kickback like Majin Buu reading CAR magazine and peruse some of Toriyama’s best auto renditions and outlandish creations: