The strenuous back and forth on the resurrection tale of Mazda's much-missed Mazda RX-7 series continues with a fresh report from Autoweek magazine.
Swiftly bypassing the misleading title "Is this the new Mazda RX-7?" positioned above a photo under which there's a caption in a tiny font size that reads, "The next Mazda RX-7 could resemble this artist's rendering", the publications mentions that the coupe is still on the cards (and if you must know, the above photo is a rendering from Carscoops' Josh Byrnes).
It says that, while Mazda bosses are officially stating there are "no concrete" plans for a new RX-7, in private conversations executives have admitted that a new coupe with a new rotary engine is on its way and could go on sale by 2016.
The project is reportedly "planned as the MX-5's platform mate", with the roadster model believed to debut at next year's Chicago Auto Show.
And whereas new Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai recently told reporters that a rotary engine is not viable due to low sales numbers, the magazine says the automaker is developing a new generation, naturally-aspirated rotary unit with some 250hp for the next RX-7, which it says, should weigh around 2,800 pounds / 1,270kg, or about the same as the Scion FR-S (2,758 lbs).
