Mazda hasn’t had a pure sports car outside of the MX-5 Miata in ages; the RX-8 feels like an ancient relic at this point. So it was a big deal when the company showed off its gorgeous Iconic SP concept at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show. Since then, Mazda has been quiet about the Iconic SP and any potential production plans. But don’t mistake that silence for a lack of progress, as the automaker’s design chief recently told its Inside Mazda magazine that the Iconic SP was meant for more than wooing auto show visitors.
“This concept is not just one of those empty show cars,” Masashi Nakayama, who holds the title of General Manager Design Division at Mazda, was quoted saying. “It’s been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so-distant future.”
According to Nakayama, you can see Mazda’s production intent in the SP’s design. Despite being a show car, every aspect of the SP’s styling was done according to production-ready specifications—everything from the engine bay to outward visibility. “Standing by the car, you should be able to picture what sort of engine would be housed under the bonnet. That’s how committed we were to crafting this concept car. The more time you spend looking at it, the more the car will reveal to you,” Mazda’s R&D boss Naohito Saga added.
“In the development process, everything from position of the doors and tires, to the length of the vehicle, the seating position of the occupants and visibility was meticulously researched before reaching the final specifications,” Saga said. “It really shows how much we wanted to make it a car that manifests Mazda’s commitment for the future, especially in terms of sustainability and the future role of our rotary engine technology.”
Don’t expect the third coming of a rotary-engine sports car to properly succeed the RX-7 and RX-8, though. While we know that Mazda restarted its rotary research team not so long ago, it was with the purpose of adapting the ICE format for the modern practice of electrification. Mazda says that the Iconic SP would use a two-rotor engine specifically to generate electricity for an EV. The target for the powertrain’s total output is said to be 365 horsepower, sent to the rear wheels, with the rotary there to juice up the battery when it runs low. That appears to be all Mazda is willing to share about the system so far, though the execs did emphasize the importance of the rotary supporting carbon-neutral fuel, to make it an extremely low-emission sports car.
However it’s going to work, I think we’ll all just be happy to see Mazda back in the grown-up sports car business. The Iconic SP is a beautiful concept that, should it become a reality, would immediately be praised as one of the finest-looking coupes on the market, with perhaps the most unique powertrain. We won’t forget about it if you don’t, Mazda.
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