The short of it is, that despite zero indication from Mazda themselves, there’s at least some folk in Japan that are semi certain that a new RX model - replete with a front-engine, rear drive layout, a Wankel rotary engine that’ll rev to infinity, and an actual launch window - is kind-of-possibly-for-sure about to make an official debut at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show in October.
Speculation comes from Levolant Boost, a modest Japanese automotive news site that seems fairly confident that the car will break cover in just a few months, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Mazda Cosmo, a revolutionary sports car that put the automaker on the map and was indeed their first car with a rotary engine.
Apart from that key nugget of information, deeper revelations are as scant as they ever were, and the most reliable ones don’t stray far from the expectations set by the 2015 concept car. The RX Vision was revealed to house a turbocharged rotary engine that would output somewhere around the region of 335kW.
A body that’s aerodynamic and lightweight (circa 1,300kg) would be paramount to the kind of performance expectable, and Mazda would no doubt use its weight distribution and chassis balance black magic to make this RX-9 ‘concept’ an enthusiast’s dream.
We wonder if, in retrospect, our future selves will nod at our unhealthy persistence or frown upon our dogmatic belief that (at least) one more rotary-engine Mazda sports car will grace our collective experience.
Naturally, that would be preferred over having the venerable RX-8 be the final car in the series and the RX Vision concept (shown at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show) an infuriatingly tantalising testament to what might have been.
While Mazda may shy away from even hinting at a production RX-9, shrugging it off like it was a lapse in judgement during a measured speech, the company itself seems more than healthy enough accommodate a fan-pleasing RX-badged halo car.
Rotary engines and sports cars are, after all, an integral part of Mazda’s formational journey from relative obscurity into worldwide prominence. Think of their more sporting endeavours and far more cars than just the Cosmo come to mind, but rather all three generation of RX-7, all four-generations of the MX5, the many sharp-handling ‘normal’ cars, and of course the Le Mans-winning 787B and its angelic soundtrack.
Clearly, enthusiast blood runs deep within Mazda, and if ever a Japanese carmaker would cater to the cries of their fans, they would be it. Do the right thing, Mazda. See you in October, with wry smile.
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