When Mazda developed the 4th gen MX-5, it had to be the ultimate lightweight sports car offering a pure driving experience. And you can’t get any lighter or any purer than a manual fabric soft-top. But then summer and winter came and they realized that it wasn’t all that practical.
So 2 years later, they built the Mazda MX-5 RF.
Standing for ‘Retractable Fastback’, this MX-5 comes with a folding 3-piece hard-top that opens/closes electronically up to speeds of 10 km/h. It was shaped as not to disrupt the original lines of the roadster while giving it a unique coupe-like silhouette. But those are not even the RF’s most unique feature.
When the roof is stowed, only the front and middle sections folds down, leaving the c-pillars (and a span between them) to form a targa top. You know… like a Porsche, a Porsche without the 8-digit price tag.
The rear window glass also retracts for that wind-in-your-hair experience.
According to Mazda, the hard-top only adds 5 mm to the MX-5’s overall height and doesn’t take up any additional trunk space. Power still comes from a 1.5L or 2.0L SkyActiv-G engine with either a 6-speed manual or auto gearbox. They are, however, silent on how much more the RF model weights.
