With better sound insulation...

With better sound insulation at high speeds thanks to the metal roof and glass rear screen, the Roadster Coupe is likely to be more comfortable than the regular drop-top on a roof-up motorway journey

From the country that brought you the ancient art of origami comes an-other folding marvel... it’s Mazda’s MX-5 Roadster Coupe! It is the Japanese manufacturer’s first-ever folding metal roof, and it promises to bring the world’s best-selling sports car to an even wider audience.

Making its world debut at the British Motor Show in July, the MX-5 Roadster Coupe goes on sale in the UK before the end of the year, with a projected price of around чЈ21,000.

The model is aimed at a gap in the market which Mazda has identified between hatch-derived CC cars such as Vauxhall’s Astra TwinTop and VW’s Eos, and prestige machinery like Mercedes’ SLK. It will also compete with BMW’s Z4. As you can see from our first official pictures, the Roadster Coupe is a stunner. Designers have cleverly packaged the complex folding-roof mechanism so that the car’s shape remains unchanged from the regular Convertible. That means it avoids the tail-heavy look of many CC-style models, but maintains the same boot space as its soft-top brother.

Up front, the Roadster Coupe gets the same nose as the Convertible. Originally, several new ‘faces’ had been considered in an attempt to differentiate the car from the rest of the range, but stylists chose to maintain the familiar MX-5 look. It has the same rear-end treatment, too – the only exterior change being the bootlid badging.

Activated by a button set above the stereo on the centre console, the three-piece hard-top emerges from be-hind the seats. The solid roof features a glass window and metal cover, and is said to be raised or lowered in class-leading time – so the new model will go from roadster to coupé in only 10 seconds. Inside, the newcomer shares its interior with the regular Convertible version, which features vastly improved material quality over the previous MX-5.

Underneath the skin, the model is essentially the same as the Convertible, with a classic front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and manual box. Under the bonnet, it uses identical four-cylinder petrol engines, with a choice of 126bhp 1.8-litre and 160bhp 2.0 units.

The added weight of the folding hard-top mechanism will mean that its owners can expect the Roadster Coupe to be slower than the soft-top versions, with the 1.8-litre doing 0-60mph in just under 10 seconds (up from 9.4), while the 2.0 should cover the benchmark sprint in 8.5 seconds (as opposed to 7.9). However, despite the additional weight, Mazda engineers have found no need to change the Roadster Coupé’s suspension settings. This means that the newcomer should offer the same driver-focused experience. And with better sound insulation at high speeds thanks to the metal roof and glass rear screen, the Roadster Coupe is likely to be more comfortable than the regular drop-top on a roof-up motorway journey.

The wraps will come off the MX-5 Roadster Coupe at the Motor Show on 18 July, and sales are set to kick off in October. Mazda’s stand at the London ExCeL expo will also display the Sassou and Kabura concepts, as well as the rest of the company’s range.