Mazda teases new sports car concept ahead of Tokyo

This should be exciting. Mazda is set to launch a new sports car concept and, if the teaser images are anything to go by, it’ll look pretty damn special.

The sports car concept will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show, where it’ll be joined by 13 other models including the crossover concept Mazda KOERU making its first appearance in Japan, two racing-spec Mazda MX-5s and the Cosmo 110S, first introduced in 1967.

According to Mazda, the design of the car concept to be unveiled in Tokyo is modern but “maintains a sense of lineage and authenticity, appearing almost to condense Mazda’s entire history of sports car development into a single model”.

The Japanese car-maker hasn’t provided much more in the way of detail, although it’s fairly obvious that the concept will be front-engined and most likely come with rear-wheel drive.

While some are holding out hope that this new sports car could see the return of the rotary engine — which Mazda helped pioneer.

While the company’s engineers continue to toil away at perfecting the rotary unit, the amount of progress they would have to have made to meet current emissions standards and fuel economy expectations suggests that’s not likely.

Still, with that outline does it really matter what engine Mazda sticks in there.