Mazda Takes Windshield-less MX-5 To The Windy City

If you thought a manufacturer couldn’t go too far in their efforts to save weight while designing something more special, you probably haven’t imagined yourself driving a car without a windshield before.

Of course, that’s not all Mazda did to their MX-5 Speedster Concept that was originally shown at SEMA last year before going on display at Chicago this week, to reduce its weight by more than 250 pounds.

Unsprung weight was reduced via the 16×8 Rays Extreme Gram Lights alloys, carbon fiber doors, synthetic interior trim, custom carbon-fiber Mu-Len Delta seats and other materials used throughout. Some of its less obvious modifications include the adjustable
coilover suspension and the Brembo four-piston calipers with vented
rotors.

As for its looks, well the pictures speak for themselves, with the Speedster being one sexy looking ride without its windshield and the buttresses added behind the seats.

Sure, this is a concept and yes, the fact that it weighs just 2,078 lbs (943kg) sounds very appealing to anybody who’s generally looking forward to putting on a racing helmet and spending their day going from apex to apex, but that’s exactly what you’d need to do with this car, which is more or less to use it like a go-kart. A very expensive go-kart.

Overall, it’s a nice little toy and if you had your own race track or lived right next to one, you could probably convince your significant other that a production-ready MX-5 Speedster would make for a good investment. And by good, we mean fun.

By the way, you could argue that a less “PG13” version of this car would be something like the one-off Lamborghini Aventador J Speedster, where you get a V12 instead of a four-pot.