The 2016 Mazda MX-5 is already a pretty lightweight car, its maker having found a way to cut the base model’s weight by nearly 60 kg while adding more standard features, and the difference is even more dramatic in higher-end models with the elimination of the old car’s heavy power-folding hardtop.

Nonetheless, Mazda has gone a step further with a pair of MX-5 concepts on display right now at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Called the MX-5 Spyder and Speedster, the Japanese manufacturer says each demonstrates “vastly different takes on lightweight, open-air performance.”

The Spyder is more true to the factory MX-5, with a stripped-down “bikini” top designed by American Sunroof Corporation (ASC). The other cool detail is the leather-trimmed interior, conceived to lend the car a vintage feel.

But the Speedster is pretty far out, trading a windshield for a minimal deflector over the gauge cluster shroud. A set of super-light RAYS wheels, and carbon-fibre doors and seats help to further lighten the car by a significant 113 kg, to a total weight of 943(!) kg.

Mazda MX-5 Spyder concept 3

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