Toyota has done what most other car brands haven’t ahead of the Detroit show – and that’s kept a concept car a secret without images being leaked on the web.
Much to everyone’s surprise, they’ve just revealed the Toyota FT-1 sports car concept at the North American International Auto Show. Called the Toyota FT-1 Concept (stands for ‘Future Toyota’), it was commissioned by Toyota’s boss Akio Toyoda and designed by the USA’s Calty Design Research. And it’s very good news for petrolheads – especially ones who like their performance cars with a Far Eastern flavor.
The FT-1 is a very strong hint that Toyota are thinking of a spiritual successor to a sports coupe heritage that goes back to the legendary 2000GT, the Celica, Supra, MR-2, and more recently the 86. Toyota won’t say if it’s going to be built – their spokesperson at the Detroit show choosing instead the safe “we will gauge reaction and take it from there” approach.
The car is only a rolling concept at the moment with no actual powertrain, but Toyota say they see it being powered by “a high-technology, high performance internal combustion engine”.
For those who simply cannot wait the two or three years it might take to see an actual production version, you can download the car for free and drive it on Sony PlayStation’s recently launched Gran Turismo 6 game.
