mx5cartalk.com

Hi members
Does anyone know the official meaning of the intitals SP in reference to a Mx5 SP.
I am wanting to make a decal so would like to know.
Thanks in advance. I talked to Mazda they did not know, but have emailed them again just seeing on here as well if somebody knows.

I believe Series Production.
The RX7 SP was made for homologation in the Australian GT Production Car Series. Allan Horsley produced both the RX7 and MX5 SPs.

The SP badges were reproduced by one of the forumites (thanks heaps) many years ago. I had two and they were perfect reproductions.

Thanks Bruce for the info

I could be wrong but I always thought it meant special performance

'Series Production' doesn't ring true to me, they were anything but that.

I could guess but I don't know, though I have seen it spelt out somewhere I can't remember what it said or how authoritative it was.

You could always ask Daniel Deckers, he was involved with the SP MX5s.

bruce wrote:The SP badges were reproduced by one of the forumites (thanks heaps) many years ago. I had two and they were perfect reproductions.

Mazda Aust sent me those SP stickers after they found a bundle of them, so they were originals. With permission from Mazda Aust, I had a batch of Clubman stickers made by the original manufacturer around the same time.

The SP stickers did look (and were) OEM.
When I purchased my current car the previous owner gave me one of your Clubman badges too.
Regards the meaning of SP, I'm happy to be corrected but my reasoning seems logical. The other option is it didn't really mean anything (or something vague).

Thanks guys the only article I can find is the auto speed one that referes the SP to special performance. I will keep asking Mazda

I just bought an SP20 so my L plate son can have a go on the track.

I can definitively say SP stands for “Somewhat Powerful”.

I've always heard it's just "sport Pack" or a general abbreviation of "Sport"

End of the day, I doubt it has any real specific meaning behind it beyond what the people in the marketing dept think will sell a few cars.


After all, it's not an MX5 only thing, it's been used on everything from the RX7 to the 323, and even still hangs around today on the Mazda 3 SP25 etc.

It's got about as much depth and meaning as "GL" "LX" or any other of the standard letters they chuck on the back end of a car.

Well Mazda informed me when I called them it stands for nothing. Just letters.

As kind of expected.

The next obvious question is what does MX5 stand for? The answer is, obviously, the same as SP, i.e. they are just letters/numeral. But I recall reading an interview with Bob Hall (Bwob) who said that when they were considering names for the MX5, Mazda suggested using an RX moniker. Bob said that all RXs are rotaries and that the the new car had pistons, and that would, therefore, be an inappropriate use of RX. Apparently Mazda's own management associated the RX moniker with 'Mazda performance cars', however the market thought RX meant 'Wankel Rotary engine'. Apparently this surprised Mazda!

One of the early Mazda books I read said the X was simply a leftover used during the concept cars that became a model name.

it was supposedly "eXperimental" ie: concept.

Started with the MX02, MX03, MX04 (not sure if there was an MX01) that eventually became the production models we know (MX3,5, and 6)

The RX series was the same, but for rotary concepts, hence R.

MX02


MX03


MX04


MX81


RX500



etc.

"Special Production"

I'm guessing here too, but that would make sense with the RX7 SP's as well as the Mx5 SP's as they were individually built cars that came from the factory & modified by a tuning house on behalf of Mazda.

but it doesnt make sense with the Mazda 3 SP, SP25 , SP25GT, SP 25 Astina.

far out....Id love a 2.5T in the Astina