Toyota could be bringing a Supra successor to the Detroit Auto Show. The sports car concept would point at a design direction for a closer-to-production version to follow, positioning itself as a halo enthusiast’s vehicle for Toyota’s core brand.
According to Autoblog, key executives at Toyota are hinting in not-so-secret terms that a sports car concept in the vein of the much-beloved Supra is coming to the North American International Auto Show in January.
The Supra name, revered amongst Toyota enthusiasts, last appeared in the US market in 1998, ending a run of rear-wheel-drive six-cylinder sports GTs that began in 1979. The final iteration in particular, a 320-horse twin-turbo with 6-speed transmission and outlandish styling, provided supercar performance for half the price. It was a darling of the enthusiast community and starred in the first of six Fast and Furious movies.
In 2007 Toyota revealed the sporty FT-HS Concept at the Detroit Motor Show, but following the global financial downturn in 2008 any plans to build it were scuttled.
However, at the recent Tokyo Motor Show Toyota revealed the Lexus RC300h, a two-door grand tourer whose rear-wheel-drive platform could underpin a car like the Supra. Previous Supras have always shared a platform with the Japanese-market Toyota Soarer (sold in its third generation as the Lexus SC in the US) anyways.
Since the FT-HS was shown Toyota has installed a new president, self-avowed car enthusiast and sometimes race car driver Akio Toyoda, who has promised to reinvigorate the company with its sporting history. Toyoda’s brining of the Scion FR-S and Lexus LFA projects to fruition have bookended the revival, this concept would fill the void in between.
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