Resurrected Mazda RX-7 Could Be Shown At Tokyo

Sports cars are back in vogue as Japanese makers prop up Tokyo show

By Riggers / Thursday, 9 July 2009 / Loading comments

New RX could get 1.6-litre rotary

With most major non-Japanese car makers having pulled out of this autumn’s Tokyo motor show, the future has been looking rickety for one of the world’s wackiest motor shows for some months.

But with none of the US big three, Mercedes, BMW, or even VW due to make an appearance, the Japanese domestic manufacturers are apparently stepping up to the plate to keep their home motor show alive.

First up came the news that Toyota’s on/off replacement for the Supra could be on show in near-production form.

Now there are rumblings from the Japanese Best Car magazine that the Toyota/Subaru rear-drive coupe will make its debut in some form at the show.

The last RX-7, which died in the UK in 1995

Better still for fans of esoterically engined Japanese performance cars, there is talk that a successor to the Mazda RX-7 will appear as a concept car. A revival of the two-door RX-7 has been a more or less constant rumour since the four-door RX-8 appeared back in 2003, reviving Mazda’s rotary engine programme.

The new RX – possibly labelled RX-9 – is likely to be cleaner and greener than the RX-8 and yet will thankfully have more power too, courtesy of an increase in swept capacity from 1.3 litres to a heady 1.6 litres.

Don’t get overly excited, though. Best Car magazine reckons there is only a ‘55 per cent chance’ that the new RX will appear at Tokyo. Quite how they arrived at such a precise figure, we’re not sure…