Mazda has produced some of the most iconic sports cars over the past few years. With a focus on the driving experience, Mazda is a company that can be stubborn in pursuing emotionally-rich cars. That stubbornness can be seen with its rotary engine, which, in this day and age, was brought back to life as a range extender for the MX-30 R-EV. Clearly, while the investment in electrification is there, Mazda likes to preserve the soul of an ICE, which is evident in the new Mazda Iconic SP Concept.
Revealed today at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, formerly known as the Tokyo Motor Show, the Iconic SP Concept is a gorgeous look into the future of what a Mazda sports car could be like. As with every Mazda, the Iconic SP Concept is a gorgeous two-door sports car with doors that swing up like in a Lamborghini. In a sea of cars with plenty of cut lines and slashes, the Iconic SP Concept is refreshingly clean and simple, using proportions to create a car that’s seductive in its style without having too much visual noise. Oh, and did we mention those are thin pop-up LED headlights?
Mazda has also used the Iconic SP Concept to debut a new paint called Viola Red. This paint finish continues Mazda’s newfound tradition of continually reinventing the red paint. We initially came with Soul Red, which then evolved into Soul Red Crystal, and now we have a new Artisan Red that debuted in the Mazda 6 20th Anniversary Edition. Where Viola Red will debut, let’s hope that it will be in a production car that is born out of this gorgeous Iconic SP Concept.
The Iconic SP Concept also debuts Mazda’s new Measuring at 4,180 mm long, 1,850 mm wide, and 1,150 mm tall, the Iconic SP is 254 mm longer than the MX-5. Additionally, due to its electrified drivetrain, which we’ll be talking about even more later, the Iconic SP also weighs 1,450 kg, about 200 kg heavier than an MX-5. Still, this is about as light as you could get with an electrified drivetrain nowadays.
Finally, we get to its electrified drivetrain, which, surprise surprise, consists of a two-rotor rotary EV drivetrain and electric motors with a total system output of 365 horsepower. Though Mazda did not specify its battery size, the Iconic SP Concept can act as an external power source when camping or powering a house for more than a week during outages. Also, in keeping with Mazda’s multi-solution approach to achieving carbon neutrality, the two-rotor rotary engine can run on hydrogen combustion or other carbon-neutral fuels.
The Mazda Iconic SP Concept has also been developed with driving pleasure in mind. As typical of Mazda, the team behind the concept are people who are car enthusiasts themselves. One of the team’s engineers even participates regularly in gymkhana events using his Mazda MX-5. Therefore, with such passion in the driving experience, you can bet Mazda to continue creating emotionally rich cars even in the electrified era.
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