Mazda has recently filed a series of patents describing what looks like a new, not previously announced car. With its butterfly-wing doors, longitudinally mounted powertrain and rear-wheel drive, it surely looks like a detour from the automaker’s current designs.
To be honest, there is a decent chance that the patents were registered for an upcoming new generation of the MX-5 Miata, although it hasn’t been confirmed yet. That, and the Miata never had butterfly-wing doors, nor is it easy to imagine with them.
Another theory that we find more intriguing is that Mazda plans to launch a sports car based on the Iconic SP Concept from three years ago (see video). That one was envisioned as a Wankel-engined range-extender hybrid relying on a couple of electric motors for propulsion. The company said it would make a nice ideological successor to the RX-7. Putting a rotary engine into a modern car comes with a number of practical drawbacks, though, so we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Mazda abandoned those plans.
Aside from this, the images highlight some kind of “balancing belts” designed to leverage the load between the suspension and the pillars. One of them also depicts a lightweight metallic brace connecting the engine screen with the front corners of the chassis to add stiffness without increasing the curb weight too much.
Mazda hasn’t released an official comment yet.