Toyota to Debut Supra Concept at 2014 Detroit Auto Show

by TTAC Staff

Published: December 19th, 2013

toyota to debut supra concept at 2014 detroit auto show

The last time Toyota debuted a concept thought to be the return of the Supra — the FT-HS, to be exact — the end result was a three-pack of boxer-powered, rear-driven madness with a low price point. Could Toyota’s latest upcoming concept for the 2014 Detroit Auto Show finally be the one?

According to insiders within Toyota, the rear-driven supercar concept was conceived in the automaker’s California-based CLATY design studio. Alas, no images have been leaked to the automotive press so far, nor word of what might be under the bonnet beyond rumor of a hybrid drivetrain made for high performance. Said drivetrain could also be the first product from the partnership struck between Toyota and BMW earlier this year to share car-building and hybrid tech for their respective entrants into the sports car game.

#BMW #CLATY #ConceptCars #Detroit2014 #Hybrids #Partnerships #Supra #Toyota

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11 of 27 comments

Sportyaccordy on Dec 19, 2013

What I'm hoping for is a tall order... but if they can make it based on the GT-86, with a 3.0-4.0L F6, a light small electric motor essentially acting as a clutch and regenerative brake, all for under 3000lb and ~60K I think it will really be a smash.

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Imag on Dec 19, 2013

Unfortunately, I think this "Supra" is going to be based on a sedan platform. As the platforms get more expensive (and capable), we are losing dedicated sports car platforms. Sedan-based sports cars like the 370Z, M3/4 and the GT-R can be impressive, but they just don't have provide the same sports car joy in my book as dedicated platform cars like the FT86, Miata, Corvette, and the Cayman/911. And even the FT86 had to borrow a lot of hardware from other Subarus.

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- Bumpy ii on Dec 19, 2013
  
  Even in the good old days, the Supra was basically a Mark II in sports car clothing, so that would hardly be the end of the world.
  
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- Imag on Dec 19, 2013
  
  @bumpy ii I did not know that. TIL.
  
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- NoGoYo on Dec 20, 2013
  
  @imag The Supra should be a GT, not an all out vicious sports car. Someone else has already mentioned this. Put it over a good-sized RWD platform from Lexus, give it like 400 horsepower, and you've got a winner.
  
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Krayzie on Dec 19, 2013

Funny how Toyota always had to collab with somebody else to make a good sports car like 2000GT w/ Yamaha, MR2 w/ Lotus, GT86 w/ Subaru, Matrix w/ GM, oh wait..

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- 84Cressida on Dec 19, 2013
  
  Funny how that's not true. The Celica, Supra, and MR2 have always been Toyota engineered. Yahama has done some work with engine head designs on some engines, like the 2ZZ-GE, and helped Toyota perfect the exhaust note on the LFA, but Toyota is an expert at making their own sports cars. They also worked on the heads for the 3M, the engine in the 2000GT and they assembled the car in one of their plants, but the engine and car itself are all engineered by Toyota. As for the original MR2 and Lotus: "Lotus (Roger Becker) did a lot of work in Japan with Toyota on ride & handling work, and actually set up a number of MR2 prototypes for them. It was almost a training program for them, as we (Lotus) had (a little!) more experience in mid-engined sports cars than they did at that time. However, the production spec. was finalized by Toyota themselves, rather than being done by Lotus. So you could say Lotus had a hand in it, but were not ultimately responsible for the finished product." http://mr2wiki.com/MKI/History
  
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TMA1 on Dec 20, 2013

I hope they'll at least give the dealers some training for when this car's on the lot. I drove an FR-S last night, after spending some time in a Miata. I mentioned this to the dealer, who told me that he'd never heard of the Miata, and that the FR-S had a Corolla engine.

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- Bumpy ii on Dec 20, 2013
  
  The typical sales associate at a car dealer has been there for less than six months, probably will leave within the next six months, and is there to convince you to Buy! Today! (whatever they happen to sell there). Product knowledge doesn't enter into it at all, apart from maybe knowing what colors and trim options the cars in the front of the lot might have.
  
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- TMA1 on Dec 20, 2013
  
  @bumpy ii Yeah, I just felt kind of embarrassed for him. It's an aspect of quality control - if you're salesmen aren't competent, how can I trust anything else the dealer is doing?
  
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- CarnotCycle on Dec 21, 2013
  
  @TMA1 I had similar experience with dealer when buying wifey's Pony car (she just had to have a Camaro). We test-drove a Challenger among others that day, and I asked the salesman (riding shotgun) if Hemi engines were still Hemi engines (I don't keep up with planet Mopar and genuinely didn't know), or just called that as a marketing gimmick anymore. He assured me that yes, indeed, a Hemi was still a Hemi. Smelling a rat, I asked the guy if the Hemi had four overhead cams 'like those nice German V8's.' Well, of course the Dodge V8 had all those cams, it was as good as any German V8. So, according to the salesman, we were driving an overhead quad cam V8 with hemispherical heads. Ugh.
  
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