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Mazda may be close to confirming plans for an all-new, rotary-powered sports car to fill the void left by the RX-8 which bowed out of production in 2012. The Japanese automaker today released a single teaser shot of a new sports car concept that makes its debut late next month at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, and it's possible the concept previews a future production model powered by a rotary engine.

Mazda has long been rumored to be working on a new rotary-powered sports car, with a launch either in 2017 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Cosmo Sport (Mazda’s first rotary-powered car and the first volume production car to feature such an engine), or perhaps in 2020 to coincide with Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympic Games.

Few details were released along with the teaser. Mazda only states that the concept features a modern design, albeit one influenced by the automaker’s sports cars of the past. Incidentally, Mazda will showcase alongside the new concept an original 1967 Cosmo Sport as well as some additional heritage models.

The 2015 Tokyo Motor Show gets underway October 29 for the media, so more details should surface soon.

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Mazda today unveiled the RX-Vision concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show and it points to the return of the rotary engine. The low-slung sports car is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-seat coupe that showcases the latest version of Mazda's Kodo design language

Kodo design eschews character lines for sculpted surfaces that create reflections that suggest motion. To show off these reflections, Mazda's display uses very little light that often highlights only certain aspects of the car. That's cool from a design standpoint, but it makes it hard to show every curve and line in pictures. You can see, however, that the car's low, wide stance, long hood, short rear deck, and pushed back cabin make it immediately recognizable as a sports car. Mazda says the hood sits low thanks to the packaging efficiency of the rotary engine. The wheelbase is 106 inches long and overall length is about 173 inches.

Inside, the RX-Vision has a cockpit feel with leather trim in a saddle motif. The pronounced center tunnel hints at a sturdy structure with a central backbone.

Mazda revealed it has been working on a new rotary engine since the RX-8 was discontinued in 2012, and this is the first car to use such an engine. Mazda calls it SkyActiv-R, and says that the SkyActiv moniker represents the company's resolve in solving the three main issues with rotaries: fuel economy, emissions performance, and reliability. No horsepower or torque numbers were offered, and Mazda wouldn't even share if the engine is turbocharged. That leads us to believe a rotary engine is likely to return, but not for quite some time and perhaps not in a production version of this sexy coupe.

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HIROSHIMA, Japan—Mazda Motor Corporation unveiled the rotary-powered Mazda RX-VISION sports car concept at the Tokyo Motor Show*1 today. The rotary engine is a symbol of the company's "never-stop-challenging" spirit.

RX-VISION represents a vision of the future that Mazda hopes to one day make into reality; a front-engine, rear-wheel drive sports car with exquisite, KODO design-based proportions only Mazda could envision, and powered by the next-generation SKYACTIV-R rotary engine.

Rotary engines feature a unique construction, generating power through the rotational motion of a triangular rotor. Overcoming numerous technical difficulties, Mazda succeeded in commercializing the rotary engine, fitting it in the Cosmo Sport (known as Mazda 110S overseas) in 1967. As the only automaker to mass-produce the rotary engine, Mazda continued efforts to improve power output, fuel economy and durability, and in 1991 took overall victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans with a rotary engine-powered race car. Over the years, the rotary engine has come to symbolize Mazda's creativity and tireless endeavor in the face of difficult challenges.

While mass production is currently on hold :annoyed: , Mazda has never stopped research and development efforts towards the rotary engine. The next rotary engine has been named SKYACTIV-R, expressing the company's determination to take on challenges with convention-defying aspirations and the latest technology, just as it did when developing SKAYCTIV TECHNOLOGY.

"I look forward to talking with you more about this vision we have revealed here today at the Mazda stand," said Mazda's Representative Director, President and CEO, Masamichi Kogai. "Mazda will continue to take on new challenges in an effort to build a special bond with our customers and become their 'one and only' brand."

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