Would you like to see the Toyota Supra? Well, so would we. And so would the entire world, come to think. This teaser by the Japanese automaker seems to hint at quite a racy machine taking centre stage at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, but don’t hold your breath if you’re eager to glimpse the actual sports car that will be gracing showrooms next year.
Deconstructing the motives behind this darkly lit studio shot, Toyota likely wants to build hype for their upcoming flagship coupe, but not too much as they likely aren’t ready to have the Swiss unveil be the actual launch. Rather, this car will be the Supra - the new Supra - as they see it is when unleashed to their motorsports division, Gazoo.
Of course, the general shape of the car along with some high level design elements will resemble the finished production model, but expect the bevy of spoilers, track extendors, extra aero, and perhaps even livery to obscure that to some degree.
In the accompanying release, Toyota says that this car will signal their “commitment to bring back to the market its most iconic sports car.” While this may indeed be the case, our guess is that the decision to pad the unveil of the fully developed product with a racing version stems from its versatility as a marketing tool.
With it, it’s able to tease the public, satisfy its racing division’s propensity to build and test new high performance material, and generate and sustain a narrative that Toyota is serious about both motorsport and driver involvement - all while keeping the meat of the final car safety under wraps.
Insofar as its mechanicals, Toyota is heavily rumoured to be using a hybrid system that mates an electric motor with a turbocharged straight-six petrol engine from BMW. But again, it’s doubtful that this will be featured in this Geneva-bound concept. And naturally, being a race car, there’s little reason for the cabin to resemble the production model at all.
All that said, we do hope Toyota does reveal more about the all-new Supra, at least to the point of where we can speculate meaningfully about where it will slot into with regard to the larger automotive ecosystem.
For more on Toyota cars, check out our Showroom.
