Toyota FT-86 a good sport

The FT-86 II concept car at the motor show provides very good insight into the car that’s into final testing in Europe.

With talk that it will be called Celica, it’s being readied for Australia for the second half of 2012.

The FT-86 has been a show star once before but the second-generation concept car is edgier and closer to the final shape, giving a clearer indication of how the showroom version will look.

But Toyota Australia says there is no hint yet from Japan about the name it will carry, even though the FT-86 badging ties the car to the classic AE86 Toyota Sprinter that starred in the 1980s and has become a drift car favourite.

"FT-86 II pays homage to Toyota’s illustrious sports car history that includes cars such as the Supra, MR2 and 2000GT," says Dave Buttner, sales and marketing chief at Toyota Australia.

"It heralds a compact, rear-drive production car with the style, performance and handling demanded by those who regard driving as a passion rather than a necessity."

What he doesn’t say, and the show won’t reveal, is that the FT-86 is a joint-development project being spearheaded by Subaru. It is providing the flat-four engine, six-speed manual gearbox and rear-drive mechanical package for the car, although Toyota and Subaru will each have a separate body design for their finished cars.

FT-86 II marks a turnaround at Toyota. The company killed its previous sports car stars – the Supra, Celica and MR-2 – as a result of falling sales in the 1990s.

Buttner says Toyota’s global president Akio Toyoda believes the mission of car makers is to provide the fundamental excitement of cars to customers and vehicles that people want to drive.

"The FT-86 II concept illustrates one of the ways Toyota plans to bring that mission to life," he says.