Hard to believe it’s already been two years since Mazda lifted the covers off the Iconic SP. Given the company’s track record of not bringing promising concept cars to fruition, we’ve been cautiously optimistic ever since. After all, we’ve been burned before: Remember the 2015 RX-Vision? That rotary-powered, rear-wheel-drive coupe never materialized, and its spiritual successor may suffer the same fate.
Despite sending strong signals about launching a new rotary sports car, Mazda isn’t so sure anymore that the RX is coming back. In an interview with Autocar, Chief Technology Officer Ryuichi Umeshita admitted there are hurdles to funding the Iconic SP project, saying the “only outstanding issue is financial.”
Still, we’re holding out hope. Since the concept broke cover at the Japan Mobility Show in October 2023, Mazda has reinstated its dedicated engineering team for rotary engines. We’ve already seen a taste of their work in the Vision X-Coupe, whose two-rotor rotary engine is part of a plug-in hybrid setup producing over 500 horsepower.
Umeshita admits the Iconic SP is his “dream car,” adding that he wants to “make it real” one day. While the project hasn’t been canceled, the financial obstacles mentioned by Mazda’s CTO suggest a production version is still a long way off. Even with approval, bringing such a car to market would take time, especially since it wouldn’t have an immediate predecessor to build upon.
This would be an all-new model built on a bespoke platform, presumably with no ties to the smaller Miata. Mazda has already said any RX revival would be sold alongside the MX-5 and serve as “a good successor for the RX-7,” according to Umeshita. Although the concept’s rotary engine acted solely as a generator to charge the battery, the CTO hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the combustion engine directly driving the wheels.
As much as we’d love to see a new RX, we need to remember that Mazda is a relatively small company. It’s not an automotive juggernaut like Toyota, capable of balancing volume-oriented models with niche sports cars.
Mazda Iconic SP Concept
Mazda’s Lean Asset Strategy, announced earlier this year, calls for drastic cost-cutting measures in EV investments. A dedicated electric car platform is still planned for 2027, when the first model is set to debut. A proprietary hybrid setup will premiere at the end of the same year in the next-generation CX-5, while a new Skyactiv-Z combustion engine is also in the works.
We can deduce that Mazda has bigger priorities for now, but Umeshita remains optimistic: “I would never say we gave it up.” Whatever the case may be, at least we can take comfort in knowing that a new Miata is on the way with a bigger engine, a manual gearbox, and possibly even lighter.
Source: Autocar
