A rotary-engined Mazda sports car is on its way back to British roads, company executives revealed when they previewed their long-awaited RX-8 model at the Detroit Motor Show. Officially billed as a design engineering prototype, the RX-8 is due to be signed off in the next few months and will go into production next year, Fleet NewsNet understands.

'We're likely to produce between 35,000 and 40,000 examples per year, and most of them will be for the US market. But there will be demand from Japanese consumers, and as Japan is a right-hand drive country, it seems logical for us to make it available in Britain,' said a spokesman.

Likely to carry a UK price of less than £30,000, the distinctive-looking Mazda differs from most other sports coupes by having four doors. Arranged in what the company describes as a freestyle system, they are hinged at the front and rear edges to dispense with the normal central pillar and make getting in and out of the rear seat significantly quicker and easier.