These Mazda MX-5 Mash-Ups Are Weirdly Appealing

We love a good render mash-up at CT towers, so naturally when Theophilus Chin decided to give the new Mazda MX-5 a trio of face transplants, we were keen to take a look. However, unlike most car Photoshop mashups - which are only created only for a bit of fun - these three each have a point to make.

Take the Alfa Romeo Giula-fronted MX-5 above for example. We were due to see something very similar in real life, with the Italian marque’s planned Mazda MX-5 sister car, which would have been badged as a Spider. However, with the plug now pulled on that deal and fellow FCA company Fiat stepping into the fray with the incoming 124 Spider, we’re left wondering what might have been with this image.

Then there’s the Scion FR-S effort above. Theophilus rightly points out that the Mazda 2 is rebadged as a Scion iA in the USA, so what if the Toyota brand badge engineered another Mazda? It’s unlikely given that it’d tread all over the toes of the FR-S upon which it’s based, but you have to admit, it looks great, and would be a brilliant way to fulfill our dreams of the once rumoured 86 convertible.

Finally, we have an MX-5 with a Telsa face stitched on. The point of this one? A new Tesla roadster will be with us the year after next, and - as the renderer notes - the Model S was penned by Franz von Holzhausen, a former Mazda designer, so this is one way of imagining how it could look.

Which is your favourite? Actually, that’s a stupid question. It’s the Alfa, surely?