Mazda Teases Sports Car Ahead of Tokyo Reveal

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Mazda on Wednesday released a teaser image for a sports car it will show off at the Tokyo Motor Show on Oct. 28.

The automaker divulged few details about the car, other than to say it would “almost condense Mazda’s entire history of sports car development into a single model,” which means nothing in itself. What may be more significant is that the car will be shown alongside a 1967 Cosmo Sport, which was rotary powered. Or maybe that doesn’t matter at all.

We’ve all but given up on rotary powered engines being fuel-efficient and commercially viable so calling this an RX concept would be a long throw.

Nonetheless, the classic sports car proportions are all there: long hood, steeply sloped rear end, two doors and presumably two seats.

Is this the next-generation FT86 that Mazda could make with Toyota?

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Sep 30, 2015

    “almost condense Mazda’s entire history of sports car development into a single model,” Indeed, it is quite easy to condense things when they're always shrinking due to rust.

  • Notapreppie Notapreppie on Sep 30, 2015

    Mazda (and RX owners) have an abusive relationship with the rotary engine. We keep thinking it will get better and it keeps emptying our pockets. At some point, we just need to walk away. Giving up the "interesting" rotary identity will eventually reap rewards for everyone. Recipe for an inexpensive, fun, class-beating Mazda sports car: 1) Grab the Cyclone V6 from the Mustang/CX-9 2) stick it in the old RX-8 chassis (with the rest of the Mustang driveline?) 3) update the interior/amenities 4) call it the MX-8. 5) Sell it starting in the $27k range. ($33k for the 380HP EcoBoost version) 6) Laugh all the way to the bank. The engineering on the chassis and drivetrain are already done. Just have to mate them, crash a few of them into concrete and get it NHTSA/EPA/CARB certified. I'll probably end up doing this on my RX-8 as part of my conversion to track vehicle (after my next Renesis bites the dust).

    • Redav Redav on Oct 01, 2015

      I recently sold my RX-8. I wanted to do exactly what you describe, but I just don't have the skill/time/money for a swap. The RX-8 (MX-8) with the 3.7L V6 would be a perfect car. However, I would hope that if it's a new car, they'd modify the V6 to add direct injection & some of the other SkyActiv tricks to bump up its efficiency while still maintaining 300+ hp. But if it is a new car, then it will take a bit more work to meet safety expectations. Fixing the RX-8 means adding weight (bad), and the Miata is too optimized for easy scaling.

  • Daro31 Daro31 on Sep 30, 2015

    Sure looks a lot like the Jaguar XK8 sitting in my garage.

    • See 3 previous
    • DeadWeight DeadWeight on Oct 02, 2015

      @daro31 daro, as a fanboy of Mazda, let me also state that the 2004 Jaguar XJR (4.2-liter V-8 spiked by a Eaton supercharger) my then boss had is one of my favorite cars of all time; it looked sexy AND mean, had a great exhaust note, great interior fit and finish, and a sublime ride. On top of everything, it was very reliable (I swear!) - much more so than the Mercedes E550 he previously had. It was a fantastic, fantastic , FANTASTIC car.

  • RHD RHD on Sep 30, 2015

    It's the 2017 Mazda RX-9 Cosmo, 300 HP, 0-60 in 5.4 seconds, complete with extra large blind spots.

    • TMA1 TMA1 on Oct 01, 2015

      I would love to see a Cosmo here. But the last one in Japan was a Lexus SC400 fighter, and that would price it too high for most of us.

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