Mazda chases dream of rotary-engined sports car

The next MX-5 isn’t the only sports car Mazda has on its wish list: bosses also hope to launch one fitted with its iconic rotary engine.

“Rotary is our symbol,” said Yoshiaki Noguchi, assistant manager of Mazda’s powertrain development division. “It’s a dream of engineers at Mazda to have a sports car with rotary.” However, such a model remains a long way from production. “Now is not the time for that,” he added. Rotary tech returns to Mazda for the first time since the RX-8 bowed out 11 years ago, with the plug-in hybrid MX-30 R-EV.