Toyota’s History of Great Sports Cars As petrolheads, we all have dreams to own exotic masterpieces from legendary brands like Ferrari, McLaren, and Lamborghini. But we also appreciate the finer tuned seemingly ordinary performance sports car such as variations of the Porsche 911, various BMW M masterpieces, and gunship AMG Mercs. But every so often, Toyota builds a genuinely desirable thoroughbred sports car that makes all petrol-heads grin and giddy underneath. Ever since the release of the beautiful and exotic 2000GT nearly 60 years ago, Toyota has become a custom with producing some great driving and very desirable sports cars. Some like the wayward and fun Corolla AE86, the all-wheel drive turbocharged rally legend Celica GT-Four, and that monster that made Fast and Furious, the fabulous fourth generation Supra. Each of these cars proved that Toyota were more than just a dull auto-box manufacturer. The Last Decade of Sports Car Sharing For the last twelve years, Toyota has produced two sports cars alongside one another, and whilst both are solid, neither are what one calls truly bespoke. Their first, the 86 (GT86 in first generation and GR86 in second generation) was a truly fantastic car. Back-to-basics, raw, pure, frugal, and a real driver’s machine. However, there was no denying that underneath, it was essentially the same car as the Subaru BRZ. But the more controversial take was the fifth-generation Supra that launched six years ago as Toyota’s first GR car. To save cost, Toyota decided to collaborate with BMW, hence why this new Supra had a BMW gearbox, a BMW chassis, a BMW interior, a BMW i-drive system, and a slew of BMW engines (both a 2.0l four-cylinder and 3.0l turbo straight six). The only un-BMW feature was the bespoke body and the 10-year warranty. Essentially, this was a BMW Z4 with no roof, no more powerful, no more sharp, and completely amidst in the world of sports cars. If one simply wanted the ultimate entry-level BMW at the time, they were better off with the more practical, cheaper, and more powerful M2. The biggest problem with this car sharing was that it meant Toyota’s sports cars were no longer as bespoke as they should’ve been. They weren’t all that special. Read More Final Toyota GR Supra Models: Lightweight EVO and A90 Final Edition analysed How does the GR division plan to fix this? Gazoo Racing, or GR for short, is to Toyota what M is to BMW and AMG is to Mercedes, their in-house tuning division. It has quickly become a hub for the development of several bespoke performance cars. Most notably, the GR Yaris, a fully-fledged rally-developed hot hatch specifically built to homologate in the World Rally Championship. But now they are gunning for a sports car. Despite being responsible for the BMW Z4Pra, Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s Sales and Marketing boss, confirmed that the brand is now confident enough to go it alone. “Can I ever see a day where we do our own independent, standalone Toyota Gazoo Racing sports performance car? Yes, yes, and yes. This is what GR is all about.” The question is what will Toyota build? Hanley was quick to acknowledge the benefits, saying Toyota “learned an incredible amount” from working with BMW. But now, the brand is ready to apply those lessons independently. It’s also worth noting that Lexus are due to drop the long-awaited LFA successor on the 5th of December 2025, so maybe that car will give the design cues as to what this car would. After all, part of the LFA’s design is implemented in the GT86. With the Tokyo Auto Show just around the corner, Toyota could lift the veil as early as next month. With regards to the name-change, Hanley didn’t rule it out, saying, “There’s no plan, but the reality is that Supra has an incredibly strong legacy statement. You never say never.” Likely given the polarising reception of the Z4pra, Toyota are hoping to gain a far more positive reception with this new car. Regardless, it just seems to be an exciting time for Toyota. Despite all recent thoughts pointing to Japan being out of the Sports Car Game, Toyota’s passion to keep a bespoke sports car alive speaks volumes. Both with this and the new LF-R upcoming, there would be some excitement around the band ever since the LFA screamed its way off the production line 13 years ago. We can only hope and wait. Source: Toyota
