Mazda is tipped to unveil a folding tin-top version of its brilliant new MX-5 at this summer's British Motor Show in London.

This computer-generated image gives an idea of what the car could look like, but you'll have to wait until July for official shots of the new Mazda.

There's no more official information on the secret Mazda just yet, but we'd expect it to go on sale later this year with a price tag of around £17,000 to £17,500 - about £1500 to £2000 more than the soft-top.

This summer's event should be the best British Motor Show in decades, because along with the Mazda it will feature world debuts of the next-generation Land Rover Freelander and Vauxhall Corsa.

Find out more on whatcar.com as the London show draws near - we'll have a full report from the London event and a video of the latest addition to the MX-5 family hot from the show floor. Don't miss it.

Held at the ExCel centre in Docklands from July 20-30, the British Motor Show will also have live rock concerts, stunt drivers and on- and off-road courses.

Tickets cost from £8. For more information call 0870 0600245 or visit www.britishmotorshow.co.uk.

http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=219556

Just for reference, here's what the regular 2006 Miata looks like with its 1-piece detachable hardtop in place.

 

Silly question, but why does a hardtop cost so much more than a convertible version? I always thought that adding in the removable top system added cost (beyond the savings of having a fixed roof) to the cost of production, not the other way around.

 

This isn't a Miata hardtop coupe, it's another convertible version of the Miata with a folding hardtop. It's a lot cheaper and easier to make a folding top out of cloth or vinyl than it is to make one out of pieces of sheetmetal.

If you're referring to cars like the BMW Z4 M Coupe and Porsche Cayman, they offer increased performance over the convertibles they're based on.

 

Oops - I guess I read the article too quickly. Isn't Mazda supposed to offer a fixed-top coupe version of the MX-5? Maybe I'm making this up, in which case chalk it up to me being crazy. I'm not such a big fan of convertibles so unless there was a coupe the MX-5 is off my list.

 

I've always like the way the Miata looked with the hardtop on - like a mini RX7. But why are they going to make 2 different convertible versions of the Miata? It doesn't seem like the production volume would be enough to justify the expense. I'd rather see a fixed-hardtop version anyway.

 

retarded, i thought the miata was a "purist" roadster

 

They sold a limited production fixed hardtop version of the NB in Japan only, which was called the RS Coupe. They built less than 1000 of em. Oh and disregard my comments in that thread about whether or not they would build a Mazdaspeed Miata...I was obviously wrong. h: