2012 – End of the world? Or new RX-9 model?
By Manntis January 7, 2010
According to the French edition Automobile-Magazine, Mazda has allegedly begun work on a new rotary engined coupe that may be called the RX-9. For the moment it’s uncertain – is this the next RX-8 model? An all-new model as the french press would have us believe?
We have no idea from where these two renderings have come. They could be official images that were leaked. Their slightly low resolution supports that theory, as often leaked images are small and enlarged beyond their resolution later. Or it could be a nicely done photochop by a fanboy.
Either way, we think it lacks aggression and the rear looks highly derivative. The front end is nicely complex features doesn’t seem to match the simple rear; another reason why it might not be the real deal. But hey, first let’s get verification that an RX-something-fast really is on the way, and we can sort out the styling later – especially since JustPut uploaded other “RX-9 spy shots” that looked derivitive of some sort of Mercedes.
Most manufacturers of passenger cars have refused to make wankel rotary powered cars (too difficult and expensive, they say). But Mazda still keeps zooming laing with the three-moving-part engine. Perhaps this is the new 2012 iteration, alongside the rumoured RX-7 replacement.
While the above red car has its charms (and not so charming), JustPut’s images claims the car will look more like this:
Submitted on January 7, 2010 in News.
D'Arcy (aka 'manntis') has owned several RX-7s over the years, including a 1985 GSL-SE that had once been the daily driver of Pamela Anderson. Named 'Pam' after its former owner, that car met an untimely death outside of Roger's Pass in the Canadian Rockies when the highway turned and, thanks to rain, the car didn't. D'Arcy started Rotorhead as a labour of love in 2002, tired of trying to find information on 1st gen RX-7s scattered throughout the internet.
Manntis has contributed 31 articles to Rotorhead.Comments (1)
Wow, Pam Anderson owned a GSL-SE. Cool! I hope the next RX-7 replacement doesn’t look like this, IMO the third gen puts it to shame. I wouldn’t mind swapping that motor into my first gen though. Mazda should off a crate motor of the 16x to help offset the R&D cost.