After unveiling a concept car inspired by the last generation of the legendary RX-7, Mazda is now seriously thinking of approving it for production.
The corresponding statement was made by Mazda Design Director Masashi Nakayama in his interview to Top Gear. He admitted that he wanted to see the Iconic SP manufactured next.
The car debuted at the last year’s Japan Mobility Show with quite a few design features having no apparent practical purpose. For instance, it had pop-up headlamps – something that could help with the aerodynamics several decades ago, but not today when most cars have smooth and low-drag headlights. Commenting on them, Nakayama admitted that they were an impulse-driven design decision and not a pragmatic one. His goal was to connect with the hearts of people and evoke an emotional response, not create a practical car.
He followed up by saying that he would appreciate it greatly if Mazda could produce a modern successor to the RX-7. He avoided giving any direct answers, but stressed that seeing one on modern roads would make him very happy, indeed.
The Iconic SP Concept had a rotary engine in its powertrain, but no direct link from it to the wheels. Instead, the engine was supposed to provide power to the 370-PS (365 hp / 272 kW) electric motor at the rear axle.
On a related note, Mazda announced in mid-January that it was establishing a whole extra engineering department for researching rotary engine technologies. In its current form, the Wankel engine seems incompatible with the eco standards by its very design; it looks like the Japanese automaker wants to challenge this status quo.