Mazda launches Limited Edition 40th anniversary RX-8

Six months earlier, we told you about the 40th anniversary of the first Mazda’s mass-produced rotary engine. Today, Mazda is celebrating it with the RX-8 40th Anniversary Limited Edition. The 400 numbered examples will be available only in the UK, with two new colors called Metropolitan Grey Mica and Crystal White Pearlescent. Other exterior details include unique 18in alloy wheels, blue fog lights and a rear wing, besides the compulsory limited edition badges.

Inside, the few buyers will sit on a black leather and grey Alcantara mix - the steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake are also trimmed in leather with matching grey stitching. The dashboard plate features the unit number, to make sure anybody that sees it knows the car is rare.

Luckily, not every change in this RX-8 is visual, since it gets a retuned suspension with Bilstein dampers and the top-of-the-range 231hp Renesis engine. The Limited Edition accelerates from standing to 62mph in just 6.4 seconds and is capable of a top speed of 146mph. Equipment is pretty similar to regular high-spec RX-8s, with items such as a nine-speaker Bose audio system and heated front seats.

Few affordable sports cars can seat four adults and, unlike its rivals, RX-8’s four doors prevent rear passengers from complying when they get in and out. But now that BMW has added a coupé version to the 1 Series and Hyundai is about to release the Genesis Coupé, Mazda needs this RX-8 40th Anniversary Limited Edition to keep sales high until its successor arrives to showrooms in a few years.