Toyota MR2 1995 News

Toyota is working to provide a triple challenge that mirrors its one time effort with the Celica, MR2 and Supra, but with proper sports car driving enjoyment. It has already delivered the first step with the 86, which is a leading contender for Car of the Year honours around the world,  by company chief Akio Toyoda wants more and 86 chief engineer Tetsuya Tada is hinting strongly about three cars. The Supra is likely to come next and Toyota has given a pointer with the design of its FT-HS - Future Toyota Hybrid Sports - coupe, currently on display at its flagship site on the Champs Elysees in Paris. It packs a V6 hybrid power train good for 350 kiloWatts and a 0-100km/h sprint in 4.0 seconds. "That definitely looks like a Supra replacement. And that's consistent with what we said four years ago. It's under study," Greg Gardner, product planning chief for Toyota Australia, tells Carsguide while standing alongside the FT-HS show car in Paris. He also confirms Tada's plan to head a three-model sports car development program. "The chief engineer has certainly expressed a wish to do that. It depends on the reaction to the 86." He says it would be logical for the 86 to take the slot once filled - in a very different way - by the Celica, leaving room either side. The FT-HS would run above, although without the overweight body and old-school six-cylinder engines of the Supra. "It sits in the middle. There is definitely room," Gardner says. "Supra filled a fantastic position until worldwide demand dried up. A smaller one would also be fantastic." While there is intense speculation about successors to the 86, Toyota Australia is ramping-up support for its $29,990 hero car. It has just confirmed a range of accessories for the car that is topped by a body kit - and over-done rear wing - from the factory. "The body kit was developed by Toyota. It was always going to be available to us, but it was a little delayed," he says. "It's only available on the high-grade model." There will also be suspension and brake improvements for the car, and interior cosmetic parts, but Gardner rules out any power-up equipment for the four-cylinder boxer engine developed by Subaru for the 86 and its BRZ twin. "The chief engineer definitely designed the car to be modified and he's keen to see that happen. But it's not really our core business to get into that, so we'll leave it to the aftermarket. "I know the mounting points are the same for our existing engine and an STI Subaru turbocharged engine. While we couldn't condone that from a  warranty point of view, it is possible."  

...by saying the show required `specialist equipment’. The accusations about fake vehicles were made after one of the suppliers to the show at Sydney’s Acer Arena spotted the cars backstage and became suspicious about what was under the bonnets. During the show, fans looked on in wide-eyed wonder as three Ferrari F360s chased each other around the ring, missing each other by a few centimetres in a casual disregard for their $370,000 price tag. Other eagle-eyed fans smelled a rat however when they spotted irregularities in the body work of the cars which were missing a rear air vent. The music was so loud it was difficult to hear the noise of the Ferraris which ordinarily would be unmistakable. The cars were actually Toyota MR2s fitted with body kits to look like Ferraris. The same thing happened on the South African leg of the tour, but the producers fessed up to the substitution beforehand, explaining the cars were on their way to Australia. Of course it begs the question what happened to them? “Top Gear Live is a mix of the usual Top Gear fooling around, exotic cars and extremely exciting, live-action stunt driving,” the show’s spokesperson Gemma Courtenay says. “Stunt driving requires highly specialist equipment. In this sense Top Gear Live is no different from any cinema or theatrical production.” Jeremy Clarkson and the Richard Hammond took Top Gear on the road in October, playing to some 250,000 people, with 67 shows in six countries. A “local” filled in for missing presenter James May at each port of call. For Sydney, it was Top Gear Australia’s Steve Pizzati, or Pizza Boy as Clarkson kept calling him. There’s no mention of the Ferrari fiasco on Top Gear Australia’s website, just the news that anchor Charlie Cox has been replaced by jazz great James Morrison for the second series which goes to air later this year. The sleight of hand strikes at the very core of Top Gear’s DNA which draws much of its excitement from the fact that’s it’s all real and that they don’t mind trashing the odd Ferrari or two in the name of entertainment – hang the expense. Or so everybody thought . . . The fake Ferraris were in fact Ferrenzos, Toyota MR2s with body kits that are designed to look like the real thing for a faction of the cost.