Remember the good old days when Toyota actually had a presence in the sporty performance segment with cars like the Toyota Supra, the Toyota Celica, and the Toyota MR2? All three have since died a sad and emotional death among those that loved them, but there’s new hope for the future, and Toyota just might have three performance models in its lineup once again. We already knew about the Supra, which is being designed in part with BMW, and the GT86 is, by all rights, a successor to the Celica, so the brand is just missing the MR2, and we could see its successor in the very near future if reports from Evo are correct.
Speaking to Evo at the Geneva Auto Show, Tetsuya Tada – a Toyota engineer and the Chief of Gazoo Racing – kindled the fire, saying, “We hope to have the three brothers in place as soon as possible.” All but confirming that a third model succeeding the MR2 is in the works is big news, and while details are still under wraps at this time, we know it’s coming fast, and we may have already seen some hints as to what it might look like thanks to the Toyota S-FR Concept that debuted at the 2015 Tokyo Auto Show. Ideally, it should maintain the same general dimensions to take on models like the Mazda Miata.
And, the best part about all of this is that the third sports car will, of course, have Mr. Tada’s hands all over it, so that means light-weight and simple – a true competitor in the compact sports car market. According to Evo, Toyota is even working on bringing the hybrid technology from its LMP1 racers so it could still end up being mid-engined. There’s no guarantee that it will be hybrid from the start, but Tada told Evo that Toyota is “Working very hard” and making a hybrid sports car a reality.
from Top Speed http://ift.tt/2nkrIIw
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