Toyota Pushing For Enthusiast Market?
Toyota, believe it or not, earned their current image with such enthusiast-driven (pun very much intended) vehicles as the rear-wheel drive Corolla, Celica, MR2, and eventually, Supra. Relatively cheap and providing buyers with plenty of driving enjoyment, these cars slowly faded away as the emotive power of an automobile gave way to its ability to perform, leaving little room for the relatively underpowered but cheap and feisty sporty cars from Toyota.
But now, Toyota’s staid image of safe, reliable transportation has been rocked to its core. So, what has Akio Toyoda done? Well, he’s recalled his company’s glorious past in the joint project with Subaru that’s known simply as the FT-86. Long rumoured and finally shown, the concept recalls the first rear-wheel drive Corollas (also known as the AE-86) in its name, and is now one of only a few bright lights on Toyota’s otherwise grim horizon. So it comes as no surprise that Toyota is, for lack of a better term, hocking the crap out of it. And although this last release may do nothing to promise the FT-86’s production or give further details as to it’s as-yet-unknown underpinnings, it does provide Toyota fans with some pretty neat images as the FT-86 is placed alongside an early Corolla, 90’s Celica, and last-generation Supra. Distraction tactic or not, it’s a great reminder of Toyota’s glory days and provides yet another glimmer of hope that a post-recall-era Toyota may cast aside its title as Producer of the Most Boring Cars on Earth and once again take up the performance driver’s cause.
