RX-7 long way off: Maeda

Don't hold your breath if you are waiting for the next generation RX-7. For if Mazda's global design chief Ikou Maeda is to be believed, the vehicle isn't even on the drawing board and will be "years away".

Maeda-san spoke candidly about the fate of the next generation RX-7 at last week's unveiling of Mazda's Shinari concept car and new Kodo design themes in Milan. He told journalists there was no official program for the iconic Japanese rotary sportscar, though admitted it would be "a dream come true" for him if he were ever to get to design its replacement.

"Please push Mazda... Please ask Mazda president to build this sportscar, " Maeda told journalists in Milan. "I have made a lot a sketches myself of the [RX-7] sportscar, but there is no program."

Maeda said any replacement for the RX-7 would have to be a serious sportscar.

Comparing how he saw the attributes of such a car to the sports coupes Toyota and Subaru are expect to debut next year, he said any RX: "should be much more serious".

"Such a car [RX-7] should be lightweight and compressed [compact]... And strong handling… It should not just be built to appeal to young trendy people but proper sportscar enthusiasts," he stated.

Though Maeda penned the RX-8, a new RX-7 would create history. Maeda's father designed the first generation RX-7 and also wore the top hat in the Japanese company's design arm.

Maeda-san said despite the historical significance, he would not ask his father to help on any new RX program.

"His tastes and my tastes are totally opposite. [He is] very function oriented; very simple... I would like to make more emotion [with my design]."

Mazda unveiled its Shinari concept car early this week in Milan, Italy. The large four-door 'coupe' is intended purely to showcase the company's new design language. It is not the rumoured replacement for the RX-8, says Maeda.

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Meantime Mazda's new design language Kodo will find its way into a sportscar even if no RX program is forthcoming, Maeda says. The design chief says that despite "its own history" a next generation MX-5 would embrace the marque's new motif.

"I would like to keep this [Kodo design language consistent across our range] as much as possible. But also the MX-5 has its own design language. We have to incorporate two things at once but not all the elements."

Maeda would not put a timeline on the replacement for the MX-5. He also implored journalists not to speculate on the timeline for any RX-7.

"Every time I talk to journalists the article always says the new RX-7 will debut in a couple of years. Please do not do this," he cautioned, nodding in agreement when it was suggested the car was years away.

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