Toyota had been suspiciously quiet in the build-up to the Detroit Auto Show and now we know why – the stunning FT-1 concept sports car just blew the doors off everything else which debuted in ‘Motor City’.
Not so long ago if you told someone this car was a Toyota they would have told you to take a cold shower and have a nap! In fact its origins can be traced back to Sony PlayStation Gran Turismo…where you certainly won’t find and any Camrys or Taragos.
Designed at Toyota’s Calty studios in California, Toyota says the FT-1 is symbolic of a new chapter in Toyota global design and clearly answers the demand of company chief Akio Toyoda to bring more emotion to the brand.
The front engine/rear-drive sports car is all muscle, track focused and features an active rear wing. But we think Toyota is stretching things a little in claiming the FT-1’s wraparound windscreen and side glass are nods to the Toyota 2000GT – more current generation Le Mans racers we reckon.
And that thinking extends inside the low-slung cockpit with the set-back A-pillars, F1-style steering wheel and delta-shaped display zone.
Sadly the FT-1 is strictly a concept at this stage – it doesn’t have an engine. But if looks count for anything…well Toyota is onto something big here.
