(Tue 15 Jul 08)

The most dramatic machine on the Mazda stand at the British International Motor Show will be the Furai concept, which made its world debut earlier this year at Detroit.

The Furai is the fifth in Mazda's series of Nagare ("flow") concepts, but it differs from the others in that it's based on an existing car. That car is the Courage C65 racer which, with the aid of a 450bhp rotary engine, competed with some success in the American Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006.

Mazda's North American Operations studio in California took the Courage, added a roof and added various pieces of Nagare-inspired styling to create something which the company says "blurs the boundaries between road car and racecar", though perhaps not by very much.

The Show, which starts in London's ExCel on July 23, also features the European premieres of the new Mazda RX-8 and an addition to the BT-50 pickup range; the Intrepid, designed specifically for the UK market, has a 154bhp three-litre turbo diesel engine (as opposed to the regular 141bhp 2.5 unit), a five-speed automatic gearbox and various styling tweaks to make it look more butch.

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