s13lover

This rumor comes from the pages of the Aug. 16th issue of Automotive News Weekly. They claim that Mazda will add a coupe and convertible version to the RX-8 model range for 2007. They also claim that 2007 will be the mid point in the cars life cycle, which means the car will get completely revamped for the 2010 model year.

bwayout

I know that Mazda had mentioned when the RX-8 first came out that the chassis was stiff enough tor a convertible model to come out right away – but they planed to wait a few years before it would come out ... of course way back, then they also planed on a new RX-7 to also be produced by 2006 – which from all current reports, is no longer the case ...



I just hope that Mazda releases a 2+2 fastback that's also a hatchback in the near future!

bwayout

On a side note: I love the similar threads feature below

Mazda wants rotary coupe, convertible

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-media-news-11/mazda-wants-rotary-coupe-convertible-2066/

Elara

They also said that white mule car that everyone was freaking out about will be the next Miata, with some hints of RX-8 in it's front end. Thanks for posting this- I completely forgot to post it when I read it.

Cam

iTrader: (1)

This site usually has some good information on it, as well as great spy pics.
Take the following for what its worth.

The following was taken from:

http://carspyshots.proboards2.com/in...num=1094743127

Here is an article from GoAuto, based on an interview with president and CEO Hisakazu Imaki, in which he explains how a group of Mazda engineers are quietly working on developng a future RX-7 replacement proposal, even though no replacement program has been approved by the company:

MAZDA JAPAN STARTS PLANNING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION RX-7

A SECRET skunkworks within Mazda Japan is developing a replacement for the legendary RX-7 sports car.

The design group is so secret that not even company president and CEO Hisakazu Imaki is meant to know about it.

But Imaki san confirmed when interviewed by GoAuto in Melbourne last week that he is aware of the design work underway.

Imaki san revealed he even supported the work going on, but scotched any suggestion that 21st century RX-7 was a green-lighted program.

Imaki san was in Melbourne for two days for meetings with Mazda Australia management, the national dealer council and dealer principals.

His visit came just days after he clocked up one year in the top job at Mazda, the 61-year-old the first Japanese and Mazda lifer to run the company in years.

"There are numerous people who want to build the RX-7," he said through an interpreter.

"I think that there are some people who are doing some preparations on RX-7 behind my back.

"But I know they are doing it. I am just thinking of pretending that I don’t see what happens."

Imaki san said he admired the Mazda workers who were developing plans for a new RX-7, saying it underlined one of his core ambitions to develop the skills and capacities of the company’s staff.

"Unless you have that kind of gumption, it’s going to be difficult anywhere to succeed, and I also want to say that’s part of our people building too," he said.

The original RX-7 was launched in the 1970s. A two-seat rotary coupe, it developed through three generations into a Supercar with astonishing Bathurst production-race winning performance provided by its turbocharged rotary engine.

But along with its performance, RX-7’s cost continued to grow, playing an important role in ever-shrinking sales which led to its demise in Australia in 1999 and the end of production in Japan in 2002.

wakeech

...and those spy pics are where??

the BS mill has been running non stop since word of this car being developped was made official. these dates and claims do actually mean nothing.

Cam

iTrader: (1)

Sorry for confusion, there is NOT a spy pic of an RX- 7. The name of the forum is Carspyshots, but the information above was posted in the News and Rumors section.

wakeech

ah ha. ok, i just wondered if i was going nuts or the computer at work was busted.

but yeah, "rumours"

s13lover

If these rumors are true, I wonder what show Mazda would chose to unviel the cars at?

kn34

i think if a new 7 comes out it might take alot of focus away from the 8. mazda will prob. do the same thing that dodge did to the viper. everybody loved the viper in its tenure as the first model until 2003. dodge refaced the whole car which now if you think about it look more like a sporty chrysler. im a huge viper fan but i am in love with 8 and hope that mazda will keep the 8 the way it is and only makes performance changes to it in the future and not alot of physical changes. everybody here fell in love with the 8 the way it looks now but when you change th car it takes alot away from it. dont know if its really going to happen but just my opinion.anyone thinks otherwise please comment

zoom44

the rumours are true- watch the big auto shows in 2005 you will be very happy!

Boozehound

Any bets on what the big display for Mazda will be at NAIAS this coming January?

<I'm not implying I know anything, I'm just curious as where people think Mazda's headed>

8pex

Sep 20 Autoweek says coupe and convertable should arrive around spring of 2006 and also states they don't know if it will be called the RX-7.

Xyntax

From a business stand point, it would make sense for Mazda to create a convertible that would share the bloodlines of the RX-8. Since the Miata is going byebye, this new convertible would be a good replacement for that niche market. As for the coupe, maybe Mazda would do that for the RX-8 since a significant number of sports car fans dismissed the RX-8 for having 4 doors and 4 seats. If Mazda would like to fill that hole, they would go for an S2000 formula type of RX-8.

ps. I don't know if the RX-8 would look good in a convertible form.

Elara

Whoa! Back up! Where did you hear the Miata was going the way of the Dodo? They're currently working on a redesign for it, but I've never heard that they were even considering getting rid of it...

AKS4

I never heard the Miata was going away either. Although from the spy shot photos and other rumors, it is to share the same blood line as the RX-8 in terms of front end design. Possibly the confusion between an RX-7 thats not an RX-7 and the Miata going away and an RX-8 convertible could all very wel be the same car. The NEW miata LOOKS like an RX-8 (from the front) and possibly Mazda is debating (deciding) to create a coupe/hatch version of it and put a Rotary in them both. Seeing as when the current iteration came out many saw how much blood (the swooping door ends) it shared with the outgoing RX-7.

We will all have to wait and see.

DreRX8

The Miata isn't going anywhere--I don't know where yall's boy got that one from :p And we wonder how rumours get started.

Xyntax

Oh sorry about that. I was thinking about the ending of the current Miata model, but instead I presented it like it was getting "discontinued". I read that C&D(i think) article where they mentioned about the Miata getting a Rotary option.

Somehow my train of thought is a little slower and mixed up since I woke up this morning. Came an hour late in class and drove like a madman to work and I wasn't even upset (not 1 bit). Damn it, maybe this is what happens to people who stay up too late.

So... NO, the Miata isn't going byebye. It's just going to 90210 for some facelift and boobjobs.

Elara

Haha, yeah, I know the feeling. You scared me for a minute there, though- I thought I has missed something big!

wakeech

it'll never happen. miata is a miata because of the mechanicals (engine, suspension, gearbox, small dimensions, etc), not the bodypanels.

if they utilise this same platform and create a fastback from it and throw a 13B in there, that will be your RX-7. i'm quite sure that to siate the true, ravenous fans of the rotary, the RX-7 will be more than a miata with a different engine and body panels, and would probably have a different suspension design, bigger brakes, etc etc etc, with a price tag to match. i sure hope they use the new Corvette as a benchmark for performance when formulating this next 7 (which i'm sure is still a "maybe" as far as future production goes).

also, as a true fanatical RX-7 fan, i simply cannot stand all the conjecture about how it will follow the RX-8's styling. it will not look like an RX-8. it will look corporate, like a contemporary mazda (as they all have), but will distinctly look like an RX-7 definitely. that car continues to define the company's image in enthusiast circles, they're not going to screw that up.

RobDickinson

Uk owners club were told by mazda UK to expect a 2 door convertable RX8 and a rotary powered miata(mx5) based on the rx8 platform.

No idea how concrete these plans are, and car companies have a habit of changing their minds or just out right lying until the product hits the carshows.

Theres room I think for a piston (2.3l I4) miata, lower powered rotary miata and an out and out performance RX7 - especialy if they platform share enough to keep costs down.