Mazda goes back to the 70s with MX-5 retractable fastback

When someone says they are going to blow the lid off in New York, you assume that they are either talking about a major party at the Waldorf or possibly a Bruce Willis action movie.

In Mazda’s case it turned out to be neither but instead a little trip down an interestingly retro route.

This is the MX-5 Retractable Fastback and it is the replacement for the old MX-5 Roadster-Coupe. That car used what was basically a plastic version of the standard MX-5’s cloth roof – the harder shell apparently made it more appealing to those of us living in wet, windy climes and it quickly became the best-selling version of the MX-5.

This time around, the hardtop MX-5 is going to be very different. Boasting a roof system that bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Porsche’s 911 Targa, the oh-so-1970s MX-5 Retractable Fastback is the first true MX-5 coupe and possibly the best-looking version of the MX-5 we have yet seen.

As with the Porsche, the whole back end of the car lifts up, in the manner of a gentleman raising his hat to a lady, to allow the central panel of the roof to slide aft. Mazda says you can do that at speeds of up to 10km/h (debatably useful) and that it does not impinge on boot space – you get the same 130 litres as the cloth-top version.

You also get the same 1.5 or 2.0-litre engines but the RF has another trick up its sleeve in the shape of an optional automatic gearbox, the first version of the current MX-5 to be offered with one.

We do not have any other technical details yet, although doubtless the RF will be heavier and a little slower than the standard MX-5. We also do not know if large sunglasses, a gold medallion and a chest-wig will be standard equipment for drivers but we can hope that this will be so.