Mazda’s Upcoming Sports Car: Butterfly Doors and a Four-Cylinder, No Rotary in Sight

Mazda has filed two new patents that give us a peek at what could be its next sports car. The drawings, spotted by Carbuzz, show a small, front-engined, rear-wheel-drive convertible with butterfly doors. While the automaker hasn’t named the model, the clues point to two possibilities: an all-new MX-5 or a production version of last year’s stunning Iconic SP concept.

Either way, Mazda is clearly doubling down on driver-focused, gas-powered fun.

The first patent focuses on the hinge pillar, detailing how butterfly doors could work on a convertible. Mazda’s engineers propose moving the A-pillars closer to the shock towers to boost chassis rigidity, then adding what they call “bracing reins” to transfer suspension loads into that reinforced pillar.

A stamped-metal “apron frame” ties the front corners of the chassis to the firewall, improving stiffness without piling on weight. The second patent covers crash structure, showing how collision forces would be channeled through the firewall and side sills to protect passengers.

Most telling is the drawing of a longitudinal four-cylinder engine and a traditional transmission tunnel, a big departure from the Iconic SP concept, which used a rotary range-extender.

So what’s Mazda actually building? The Iconic SP debuted with dramatic butterfly doors and a rotary engine, but these patents suggest the production car could swap the rotary for a simpler, lighter four-cylinder. The next-gen MX-5 is also on the way, but it’s hard to imagine Mazda engineering fancy new doors for a model that’s always been about affordability and low weight.

A more likely scenario: they’re developing one shared platform that could underpin both cars, with the butterfly doors reserved for a halo version of the Iconic SP. Either way, the message is clear, Mazda isn’t done with small, engaging sports cars.