To those unfamiliar with Spanish car company Seat in the U.S. ( pronounced “say-ott”), it’s a European automaker known primarily for its sporty compact León and the Ibiza supermini. Think the Ford Focus and Fiesta of Spain.
Seat’s parent company is Volkswagen and therefore shares a few platforms across the VW and Audi vehicle lineup for its various sedans and hatchbacks. According to an interview by Carscoops with David Cava, a transportation designer who worked briefly with Seat, he spent some time researching how the Spanish brand could bring a stand-alone sports car to the VW group — something less Audi R8 and more Mazda MX-5.
Cava also provided a host of renderings he made throughout the design exercise, to illustrate his vision of what his vision of a Seat roadster would look like. What he envisions is a car proportionate to Mazda’s Miata: two-seater with a very short profile, possibly powered by the Seat Ibiza’s 1.4-liter four-banger working in conjunction with an electric motor.
Volkswagen has it’s bases fairly well covered, from its tiny Up! three-cylinder city car, all the way to Lamborghini’s luxury supercars, but it’s interesting that an inexpensive sports car that isn’t based on an existing coupe or hatchback somehow slipped through the cracks.
Thing is, while Cava has a point, there’s nothing to indicate that this gap will be closed any time soon, but its good food for thought. Who knows? Maybe Seat will convince the higher-ups that this is in its wheelhouse. Then we’ll have another excuse to visit Spain.
