Photo: Joseph Robinson
Right now, most of the cars that have the engine behind the driver are made in Italy, Germany, or Britain. However, history books are littered with examples of plucky Japanese automakers wanting to compete and doing their own version of a super or sports car.
Mazda isn't a mid-engined kind of company. However, the idea clearly pops up in their heads from time to time. There's the 1970 RX-500 concept, as well as the obvious Le Mans racing prototypes.
In more recent years, we've had the super-sexy Furai concept, which if we remember correctly burned down by accident. This isn't one of those, but a private design study by Joseph Robinson.
Even though it's supposed to have being mid-engined in common with the Corvette, the styling of this thing is nothing like a Chevy or any other supercar for that matter. The shape is super-smooth, like a pebble washed by the ocean. It's clearly inspired by the soft shapes of the Mazda3 and has that kind of vibe in the headlight department as well.
The Kodo design language is evident in the shape of the grille or the proportions of the body, but it's not copying any Mazda you know or have ever seen.
"As a halo performance vehicle, it can augment Mazda's motion toward the premium market. Simultaneously, with this new platform, Mazda can return to motorsport to reengage its enthusiast audience and cement its racing legacy," the artist says, justifying the existence of the Mazda 9 as a supercar.
He also added that the car would be some kind of hybrid, but we see a problem with that. Mazda is believed to be working on a new inline-6 engine that will power a new sports car. While that's fine for a GT, Americans expect to at least have a V8 in their exotic ride. That's partially why the new NSX wasn't a huge success, despite its advanced torque-vectoring electric motors.
In more recent years, we've had the super-sexy Furai concept, which if we remember correctly burned down by accident. This isn't one of those, but a private design study by Joseph Robinson.
Even though it's supposed to have being mid-engined in common with the Corvette, the styling of this thing is nothing like a Chevy or any other supercar for that matter. The shape is super-smooth, like a pebble washed by the ocean. It's clearly inspired by the soft shapes of the Mazda3 and has that kind of vibe in the headlight department as well.
The Kodo design language is evident in the shape of the grille or the proportions of the body, but it's not copying any Mazda you know or have ever seen.
"As a halo performance vehicle, it can augment Mazda's motion toward the premium market. Simultaneously, with this new platform, Mazda can return to motorsport to reengage its enthusiast audience and cement its racing legacy," the artist says, justifying the existence of the Mazda 9 as a supercar.
He also added that the car would be some kind of hybrid, but we see a problem with that. Mazda is believed to be working on a new inline-6 engine that will power a new sports car. While that's fine for a GT, Americans expect to at least have a V8 in their exotic ride. That's partially why the new NSX wasn't a huge success, despite its advanced torque-vectoring electric motors.
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