Mazda’s Iconic SP could soon morph into the next-gen Miata, or a spiritual RX-7/8 successor.
Over the past few years, Mazda has delivered some of the best-looking concept coupes in the game. Frustratingly, though, nothing has actually come to fruition to replace either the ND-generation MX-5 Miata (which is getting long in the tooth by now, despite its most recent updates) or the RX-8, which went out of production over a decade ago. Now, thanks to a post to the company’s own Inside Mazda blog, there’s fresh insight that strongly hints at the Iconic SP concept actually making it to production, a year after it first debuted in October 2023.
“This concept is not just one of those empty show cars,” says Masashi Nakayama, general manager for Mazda’s design division. “It’s been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so-distant future.”
As nebulous as that may still sound — and it’s probably appropriate to take that statement with a grain of salt, given the company’s recent history with rotary development and launching a true RX-7 follow-up — that is a notably straightforward statement given automakers usually shy away from saying their concepts will go into production. That’s the game Honda played with the new Prelude for awhile, before it finally confirmed its production intent back in September, and we’ve since seen spy shots of the actual car.
The burning question enthusiasts like me have about the Iconic SP at this point is which Mazda it will ultimately become. Last year, Nakayama said his team purposely designed the concept to be a bit bigger than a Miata, though its dimensions could shrink to represent a next-generation model. Or, some is the Iconic SP coupe, we could be looking at a more direct successor to the FD RX-7.
What will power this new sports car?
While some past rumors suggested Mazda could revive the old-school rotary engine on its own to follow up the RX-7/RX-8 or incorporate their new straight-six engine into the mix, the actual answer will likely land somewhere in the middle. The Iconic SP concept, for its part, houses a two-rotor range-extender EV setup, putting out around 365 horsepower to the wheels.
Naohito Saga, executive for Mazda’s R&D strategy division, further hints at the car’s intent. “Standing by [the Iconic SP concept], 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…everything from the 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 also speaks to the “sustainability and future role of our rotary engine technology.”
Judging by the concept’s proportions, it’s reasonable to assume the powertrain will live up front, but mounted as far back as possible behind the front axle for better weight distribution and a low center of gravity. Mazda’s team further spoke of all the synthetic and bio-friendly fuels on which the Iconic SP’s production sibling can run, hinting at some of the main drawbacks that’s stopped the automaker from re-introducing rotary engines en masse: fuel economy and emissions.
When could we see the Iconic SP actually make it to production?
Of course, even Mazda’s blog post “confirming” the Iconic SP production lays out precisely zero details for its technical specs, when its actually going into production or how much it will cost. And, as it’s done with some concepts in the past and even some of its actual launches like the U.S.-bound SkyActiv-D turbo-diesel and SkyActiv-X powertrains, there’s a chance we may not wind up seeing it at all. Again, if you’ve been following Mazda’s exploits over the past decade or so, I completely understand any skepticism you may have.
Nevertheless, it sounds like Mazda is keen to actually make this one happen. And while the automaker had a blowout October in terms of sales, the MX-5 Miata didn’t fare so well. That hammers home the fact that it desperately needs a major overhaul sooner rather than later. So, here’s hoping that Mazda will launch the Iconic SP as an innovative sports car with a rotary engine somewhere in the mix within the next few years.
