Designers to build 2018 Mazda3 concept live in L.A.

One lucky industrial design student in the U.S. will have her vision of a 2018 Mazda3 transformed into a full-scale clay model live at this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show. The concept was created by 21-year-old Mallory McMorrow and was picked from a field of other designs submitted in an online competition on Facebook. McMorrow will now work with Mazda’s North American design Chief Franz von Holzhausen to bring the concept to life in the carmaker’s booth.

To enter, contestants submitted a 150-word description of their vision of the 2018 Mazda3 and an optional sketch drawing. The Mazda Design team then judged each entry, choosing 10 semi-finalists. The final was judged and voted on in a second round by fellow Facebook members.

The car is described as being neither a sedan nor a sports coupe but something that combines the best of both.

Mazda will also showcase the new 2008 CX-9 crossover SUV, three-row, six-passenger Mazda5 MPV, the 40th Anniversary RX-8 and the first rotary vehicle that started it all, the 1967 Cosmo Sport.