California, USA: Always mixing performance and polish, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is offering a glimpse of its 2016 Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) concept cars ahead of their formal debut.

Borrowing style and speed from the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup race car, as well as elevating Mazda's iconic and lightweight sports car with premium details, are the MX-5 Speedster and MX-5 RF Kuro concepts.

After debuting the Global MX-5 Cup race car at the 2014 SEMA show, Mazda first introduced the MX-5 Speedster to the world at the 2015 SEMA show, taking the base car's lightweight ethos to a new level.

For this year's show, Mazda's design team took a big step forward, creating the Evolution, painted White Ether, taking the concept a step further with more than 100 lbs. removed from last year.

Now just under 2,000 lbs, MX-5 Speedster Evolution is approximately 350 lbs. lighter than a stock MX-5 soft top.

Mazda is also displaying the MX-5 RF Kuro concept, based on the 2017 MX-5 Retractable Fastback that will be on sale early next year.

MX-5 RF Kuro is painted in a semi-matte metallic concept color developed in-house called "Kuro," which means "charcoal" in Japanese.

It rides on 17×7.5-inch RAYS forged wheels, 215/45R17 BF Goodrich Rival G-Force tyres and the adjustable suspension from the Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BF Goodrich Tyres.

Both concepts were conceived by Mazda Design Americas to showcase contrasting directions that create a "Mazda Premium" experience while paying homage to Mazda's performance heritage. They were designed and built in-house by Mazda's Design team in Irvine, California.

MX-5 Speedster Evolution and MX-5 RF Kuro concepts will be on display at the SEMA Show on November 1-4 in the Mazda booth, #11647, in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.