--- title: "The World Has Lost a Master of Automotive Cutaway Illustrations" description: "It was confirmed this week that Jiro Yamada, a Japanese illustrator known for incredibly detailed cutaways of cars and other machines, died last August at the age of 65." date: "2026-06-05" modified: "2026-06-05" authors: - name: "Adam Ismail" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/the-world-has-lost-a-master-of-automotive-cutaway-illustrations" categories: - "Culture" - "News" - "People" --- # The World Has Lost a Master of Automotive Cutaway Illustrations ![Cutaway illustration of a Lancia Delta HF Integrale by Jiro Yamada]() *\Jiro Yamada via Cinquecento Museum Shop\* It was confirmed this week that Jiro Yamada, a Japanese illustrator known for incredibly detailed cutaways of cars and other machines, died last August at the age of 65. Yamada began illustrating professionally in 1979. His subjects spanned everything from legends of motorsport and humble passenger cars to helicopters and rocket engines. He was commissioned to produce renderings for automakers' promotional and technical materials as well as enthusiast media and private clients. Crack open [the official guidebook]() for the very first *Gran Turismo*, published in 1998, and Yamada is credited for the illustrations. Yamada's website contains [a collection of his automotive works](), properly organized by makes and models. To call it impressive severely sells it short. This is as specialized an art form as art forms go, and the extent of research, planning, and precision required to build one of these is monumental. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Yamada lays it all out on his site, using his illustration of a Porsche 906 prototype as an example, and it's very much [worth a look]() if you ever wondered how someone even begins a cutaway of a machine as complex as a car. According to a post on an [enthusiast Facebook group](), although Yamada passed last summer following a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, that only became widely known within the last several days. On August 7, days before his death, Yamada [shared]() on Twitter that he had [entrusted the Cinquecento Museum]() in Nagoya, Japan—a museum dedicated to the Fiat 500—to maintain and [sell reproductions]() of his many works. > [#みんなのラリーカーを見せてくれ]() > 青春のランサー [pic.twitter.com/bxLDnbuNAq]() > — 山田ジロー（チンクエチェント博物館 管理） (@tisjiro) [November 20, 2024]() Yamada transitioned to digital production in 2000, as many of his peers had done—like Jim Hatch, who was interviewed by *[Road & Track]()* back in 2020. "Everything was done by hand," Hatch, who began working full-time in the profession in 1991, told the publication. "There were no computers. I would ink everything on a big board with a pen and [Kevin \[Hulsey\]]() would airbrush everything." Naturally, technology brought with it a standard of consistency and efficiency that was unattainable before. On the surface, the task these illustrators are faced with is simple: to convey what lies underneath a car's body as faithfully as possible. But there's no single method to answer that brief, and that's what makes cutaways art. To Yamada, it was a way of "expressing both the rationality and beauty of machines at the same time." We couldn't put it better if we tried. *Is there an automotive artist that moves you? Email the author at adam.ismail@thedrive.com* ## Author Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()