Hiroshima Air Port

Mazda’s new Retractable Fastback (RF) and old Roadster Coupe (RC) have a hard-top connection that puts a spin on the convertible concept of the MX-5.

- Dr Kong Yongyao

AH, the Mazda MX-5, through the generations the very definition of driving pleasure, distilled. It is the rapturous laughter of your best buddy, the radiant beam of your sweetheart’s timeless smile. It is the essence of joy, the reason the sky was formed and roads were built. How do I know this? I bought one! A standard soft-top version, as the gods of motoring intended. Minimum fuss, maximum pleasure. Now though, there is a hardtop version called Retractable Fastback (RF). At the cost of 45kg added to the MX-5’s obsessively achieved super-light construction, Mazda has affixed a piece of metal origami atop the platform that, in theory, transforms the dinky, noisy little sports car to a weather-proof and knifewielding-thief-proof machine for the mature sunseeker.

To get the big question out of the way first and foremost: No, the MX-5 is still as jubilant to toss around. There is no penalty whatsoever to its euphoric dynamic personality. It is still a hyper-caff einated puppy at heart.

Now that we know Mazda is perfectly capable of engineering a hard-top into a regular convertible without compromising the dynamics, it is worth remembering that we have been here before.

A jet-black example of the previous NC-generation MX-5 Roadster Coupe (RC) joins us for a frolic.

That car is a lot easier to explain. It is a regular MX-5, except with a motorised roof that takes 12 seconds to open or close, and just happens to be solid.

Marvellously, neither hard-top solution reduces cabin or boot space one iota, though that is a bit like saying an actor is no shorter than Tom Cruise.

No wonder, then, that the RC version accounted for more of that model generation’s sales despite a 37kg weight gain. Because, why not?