Can Toyota’s 'Jesus car' change the company's vanilla reputation?

 

It’s been five years in the making. But finally (finally!), Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled his company's new back-to-basics sports car this week ahead of its official debut at the Tokyo auto show, a vehicle that’s being built not to bloat sales, but to gain respect for the troubled Japanese automaker.

Can this new car be the automaker’s saviour?

To be sold as the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ in North America next year, the Nomex-clad prez drove the foreign-market Toyota GT 86 around the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway outside Tokyo.

 

The “86” honours the AE86 line of Corolla-based rear-drive sports from the 1980s, and hints at the purpose of the car, that is, to offer an affordable (est. under $30k price) “halo model” to let the public know that the giant automaker—better known for offering vanilla-like Corollas and Camrys—is capable of creating cars with more soul than a refridgerator.

 

On paper, president Toyoda’s team seems to have nailed the “back-to-basics” promise.

 

With its rear wheels powered by a naturally aspirated 197 hp 2.0-litre flat-four from Subaru, the 2+2 Toyota/Scion/Subaru is being hailed for its extremely low centre of gravity and feathery 1,207 kg, curb eight—almost 300 kg lighter than a comparable Hyundai Genesis 2.0T.

 

From the supplied video, I like the lean looks of the GT 86. It reminds me of the original 1969 Datsun 240Z, or even the first Mazda RX-7. It’s certainly unlike any other car in Toyota’s lineup, save for the unattainable Lexus LF-A supercar.

 

But what do you think?

 

If the Toyota/Scion/Subaru drives as well as  Toyota is promising, does this change your impression the automaker cares more about product than profit?

 

Or does Toyota need to do more than just a low-volume niche car to change your mind?

Comments

[Klinky]

The FRS/GT86 is a spectacular car! And it's already receiving rave reviews from journalists fortunate (lucky?) enough to drive it around the track. Toyota appears to be taking their feedback and continuously improving the already-great handling of this car. And it'll be affordable for everyone! That's win:win for us consumers!

Since being appointed as CEO at Toyota, Akio Toyoda seems to be intently listening to consumers and making major changes to improve Toyota/Lexus/Scion products. I know this takes time to do - so we're starting to see the results in cars we're seeing now. So I'm very interested to see how this impacts future models too!

So if old Toyota was considered "vanilla", then I see the NEW TOYOTA more more like french vanilla cappuccino, whipped cream, and cinnamon sprinkles. It's what I want...and tastes great too!

[wing]

i like it. i am extremely relieved about the low curb weight.

[Jane]

I found the title of the article offensive. Hopefully Toyota wouldn't be so foolish as to use the term "Jesus car". It must have been the author who wasn't thinking clearly.

[metalangel]

I mourn the demise of the sporty economical Japanese car. The Celica, the MR-2, the MX-3 and MX-6, Prelude, 240SX. They looked good but were practical and inexpensive. Giving us a tuned version of a city car like the Civic Type-R is a poor substitute, as is slapping an ugly body onto an existing car (Scion)

Toyota has realized too late that their range is boring! In Canada it's bad, in Europe it's even worse, row after row of boring hatchbacks and family cars. I bought a 2005 Celica as it's the last even slightly interesting car Toyota made before this self-imposed creative drought. Younger buyers still want nice looking, fun cars!

[exRallyPilot]

I used to rally a 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS - rear-wheel drive, and pretty much as tough as a brick (an old-school, strong brick, not one of these new, eco, whimpy, fragile ones). I jumped the car on numerous rally occasions with stock suspension, took the little 1.6 L 16v engine (same engine as in the 1.8 L Toyota Atlantic open-wheel race car) to redline as often as I could, and generally abused the little 5-seater hatchback AE86 way beyond what any sane person would ever unleash upon a car: it just kept going. I was totally sold on Toyotas. The Corolla GTS was certainly not the absolute best-handling 'affordable' RWD car (e.g., 240SX, RX-7), but it seemed over-engineered to the point of being virtually indestructible, and the Mr. Hyde in me appreciated that. I owned other Toyotas years later, mostly because my practical side started to overshadow my drive-it-like-you-stole-it side, and that practical side put interior size, reliability, fuel economy, and made-in-Canada at the top (hence Matrix), versus ultimate handling (only RWD will do!). The practical side of me (and the ex-rally driver) has also led to owning Subarus, so this new FR-S/GT86 is almost perfect in my eyes - 'almost' because our family in now five, and I believe that Toyota has not included a middle seatbelt in the back. Sadly, due to this one exclusion, I will not be experiencing my neoYouth with this car. (Now, let's see if I can save up for an STi ...?)

[DJL]

It looks great, and I'm really happy to see Toyota start to offer something that's sporty and not massively expensive. But the key to the GT86 success will be the price. Right now the base model Mustang V6 starts around $21,500. To justify paying almost 50 percent more, the GT86 would have to be something really special. And I'm just not confident that Toyota will deliver something truly special for under $30k.

[CGS cat back exhaust]

It just looks so awesome it left me speechless. Ba to basics, Toyota.