Just as teen fashion from the ’90s has resurfaced at your nearest Target (Why???), everything old is apparently new again. Honda brought back the Integra, the Prelude is due next, and a Toyota exec has confirmed the return of the Celica. Is a rotary-equipped Mazda sports car next?
The stunning Mazda Iconic SP concept was unveiled in 2023. Not only was the sports car gorgeous, but it contained a surprise: a two-rotor rotary hybrid powertrain. Speaking with Road & Track, Mazda execs say the company is functionally ready to put a production version of the Iconic SP on the assembly line, but to do so, it has to make good business sense.
“If we see a good business case, we’re ready to go,” said Mazda CTO Ryuichi Umeshita. “Where we are is developing the technology to pass the U.S. regulation, and we have a very good forecast now… But technically, we are almost ready.”
“I decided to reopen the rotary engine development group and I gave a mission to them, [which] was to comply with stringent emissions regulations like LEV IV in the U.S., and Euro 7,” explained CEO Masahiro Moro.
“We know that rotary is not good at complying with emissions, that was the reason we decided to discontinue it in 2012,” he added. “That is a very high hurdle they have to overcome, but in the last year, the progress has been very encouraging.”
Mazda has utilized a rotary engine since retiring the RX-8, but only as a range extender for the MX-30 subcompact electric crossover. The MX-30 itself was dropped from the U.S. lineup in 2023 due to poor sales. But an 830cc rotary engine with 74 horsepower in the name of extended range is a very, very different beast from a full-blooded rotary for raucous performance.
The twin-rotor Iconic SP is said to produce 365 hp to the rear wheels. From the beginning, Mazda has never been coy about its production-ready design. “This concept is not just one of those empty show cars,” said design boss Masashi Nakayama at the time.
“It’s been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so-distant future,” Nakayama previously said. And his story has not wavered, reiterating with R&T, “I have to be very careful what I say here, but we made sure that [the Iconic SP] will be feasible for production.”
So, the only thing standing between us and a real successor to the RX-7 and RX-8 is proof that enough people will buy one to make the whole thing financially worthwhile.
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