Scroll down for all the news on the brand new Retractable Fastback, revealed last night by Mazda at the New York Motor Show…
Everything points to mazda releasing something very different to the PRHT roof we are all used to on the NC. So I wouldn’t hold out too much hope that it will look anything like the above renders.
The general belief, on miata forum, is that the car will have a near vertical rear window. Buttresses behind the headrests similar to those on a Ferrari 308. With a Targa style bar joining the buttresses together. This buttressed rear section will lift up allowing the window and roof to stow away before coming back down to create a targa style appearance. Aka X19 Honda CRX?
That aside I really, really hope everything I’ve read, that draws them to this conclusion, is wrong and the pic Martin has posted is what we actually get. I just can’t see me swapping my PRHT for a targa style roof
Many conflicting things circulating as the clock counts down.
But radically different it seems to be.
Might not even go by the name MX-5.
We’ll keep watching and update things later/ in the morning
radically different! You mean it won’t be in Soul Red?? Shock, horror…
and had a glove box grafted on…
Dodge Viper perhaps?
So the leaked “speculation” on the twitter verse
Is the RF?
here you go, live from New York…
XJ-S anyone?
Mazda 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNgXXyFxaMo
Honda, 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze_2FPFlmGY
Hopefully, a bit quieter.
Mazda revealed the Mazda MX-5 RF (“retractable fastback”) today on the eve of the New York International Auto Show. The latest version of the legendary sports car offers a new dimension of open-top driving fun while at the same time staying true to the purpose of Mazda’s previous retractable hardtop MX-5: Making the roadster experience accessible to a broader range of drivers.
In doing so, Mazda has broken with conventional thinking to create something entirely new. Featuring fastback styling with a smooth roofline that slopes down to the rear, the MX-5 RF’s unique rear roof and retractable back window deliver a distinctive new convertible feeling.
The power roof opens and closes with the press of a button while moving at speeds of up to 10km/h. The roof itself stows away compactly and efficiently: Despite the sleek design, the
MX-5 RF offers the same boot space as the soft-top model. Also like the soft-top, the new version will be available in Europe with a choice of two revvy petrol engines – the SKYACTIV-G 1.5 and SKYACTIV-G 2.0 – mated either to a delightfully crisp shifting six-speed SKYACTIV-MT gearbox or – exclusively for the MX-5 RF – a six-speed automatic.
Another highlight of the MX-5 RF is the selection of body colours. They include Machine Grey, a new premium colour specially designed to accentuate the subtle yet dynamic surfaces of Mazda’s KODO – Soul of Motion exteriors. Developed in the belief that colour is one of the elements of form, Machine Grey expresses the beauty of a machine’s strength and precision. By intensifying the contrast between light and shadow with a sleek, high-density finish, it gives the impression that the vehicle’s body was sculpted from a solid block of steel.
Paint application is crucial here. Mazda progressed its Takuminuri painting technology originally created for Soul Red, Mazda’s first premium colour, to achieve a precise, high-quality finish that looks as if it were hand-painted by a master craftsman. The system uses a three-coat paint structure consisting of colour, reflective and clear coats. The reflective layer, which contains extremely thin, high-brightness aluminium flakes, shrinks during the drying process to about one-quarter the thickness of most reflective layers. This causes the flakes to lie flat with regular spacing between each flake for a high-density finish that gives the entire surface a sheen when illuminated and a genuine metallic look. Jet black pigment, meanwhile, is used in both the reflective and colour layers. It is visible through the spaces between the aluminium flakes, giving them a black hue and thus heightening the contrast. Machine Grey will be available on a range of Mazda models, including the all-new Mazda CX-9 slated to go on sale in North America this spring.
The MX-5 RF is on display at the New York International Auto Show, which opens to the public from 25 March to 3 April. Mazda is holding a press conference from 11:20-11:45am on 24 March, the second of two press days.
I like the side profile.
Not impressed at all .
I’ve had a bit of a thread tidy up, removed some of the speculation and left in the facts. So apols if you got deleted… Eager to hear now what you all think of this brand new and very different MX-5.
Like the fastback lines.
One word from me … ’ Stunning ! ’
But a fastback is an aerodynamic feature - the back of the "RF’ is less aerodynamic than the soft top.
Like it a lot, much better than the soft-top in my opinion.
Exhaust is still rubbish but that could be modified.