The Mazda 3 is currently only available in sedan and hatchback forms, although if you consider the CX-30, there's technically a crossover variant as well. But if there's one thing missing from the Mazda lineup as a whole, it's a two-door coupe. That may not be the case for much longer, however, as CarBuzz has exclusively uncovered patent documents filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the European Patent Office that point to the development of a Mazda 3 Coupe.

Filed in June 2021 and published this month, the documents were given a priority date of July 2020, meaning Mazda wants to fast-track the registration of the design. The Mazda 3 has never been sold in coupe form, despite rivals like the Honda Civic offering the sporty body style.

In the documents, we don't get to see a full car. We do, however, see what definitely appears to be a Mazda 3 Hatchback's basic silhouette, with details describing a two-door body shell. Described as a "vehicle body structure," the important aspects of the text relating to part number 6 specify "a pair of doors attached to both sides of the vehicle body…" The patent goes into other detail about the structure and the supporting members of the roof as seen in figure 4 below, but gives little other indication of what to expect.

A second patent document filed with the USPTO gives us a little more insight, showing a frameless door design in some detail. Everyone knows the best coupes are the ones with frameless windows, and this is exactly that. The second patent showcases the inner workings of the door, particularly the framework and the hinge mechanism, which operates on a single door stay damper or hinge mechanism.

While sections through the door design indicate a cut-off not showing the full window, anyone with technical drawing experience will be able to tell you that there is no frame indicated. The text also describes the doors as 'sashless', which is an architectural term for frameless doors and windows. Curiously, the patent also explains that the window might not be made of glass, speaking of a "door window (which is not only glass-made but reinforced plastic-made)."

While the patent itself may appear to showcase a Mazda 3 Coupe, the concept of a plastic window to reduce weight would be more suited to a sports car. Currently, Mazda's only sports cars, both the MX-5 Miata and MX-5 Miata RF, are convertibles, which means the new structure itself could be implemented in a coupe sports car, with a lightweight window made of plastic.

We hate to add unnecessary fuel to the fire, but rumors have once again taken flight that Mazda is working on an RX-7 successor, and just this week patent documents showcased a three-rotor, rear-wheel-drive sports coupe with a transaxle gearbox. There is a possibility that these two new patents could be for that, as numerous patents have suggested something similar in the works. We've reached out to Mazda for comment on the potential of a new coupe, but ultimately, time will tell.