Even though it might have seemed as if a drop-top version of Toyota’s 86 coupe was very close to production, a report has emerged from British publication WhatCar? that suggests the model might not see the light of day.
Earlier this year, the company showed off the FT-86 Open Concept at the Geneva Motor show which looked surprisingly close to sign-off – and a keen-eyed enthusiast even spotted one that was being closely guarded in Cape Town.
But now there are reportedly no concrete plans to actually bring the 86 convertible to the masses, as the model has been delayed “indefinitely”. The WhatCar? report suggests that one of the reasons behind the delay could be the engineers trying keeping the roadster’s mass to a minimum – a tricky process when trying to make up for loss of rigidity due to the lack of a roof.
Whatever the Toyota bigwigs decide, it seems we won’t see the drop-top 86 for at least another two years because there is no apparent space for the model in Toyota product plans for 2014 and 2015.
