RX-Visions dancing in our heads…
A recent series of filings made to the Japan Patent Office suggest that Mazda may be working on a new sports car. One of the filings bears a striking resemblance to the achingly gorgeous Mazda RX-Vision concept.
As reported by Jalopnik, Mazda recently filed 14 applications with the Japan Patent Office, all of which pertain to the underlying structure for some sort of new sports car. The new patents give us an eyeful of an all-aluminum space frame, including a right rear three quarters view that looks quite a bit like the Mazda RX-Vision concept that debuted in 2015.
Left: Mazda patent, courtesy Japan Patent Office. Right: 2015 Mazda RX-Vision concept.
According to Google Translate, the intention behind the RX-Vision-esque patent image is to illustrate “a rear body structure of a vehicle that can ensure the support rigidity of the rear suspension and effectively transmit the rear thrust load from the rear side housing (rigid member) to the coupling body between the side sill and the pillar.”
Translated again, this basically means Mazda is investigating body rigidity, rear suspension, and handling, all of which bodes well for folks interested in a future Mazda sports car. Coupled with last week’s revelation that Mazda had trademarked a new “R” logo similar to that used previously for models like the RX-7 Spirit R, and well, you can’t blame us for hopping on the hype train.
That said, all of this is still very much up in the air. As Jalopnik points out, it’s possible Mazda is using an existing concept to patent an idea that may or may not actually make it into production.
Still, we can’t quite shake the idea of a shiny new drop-dead gorgeous Mazda sports car. Maybe with a triangle-shaped engine under the hood. And working apex seals.
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