Rumormill: Has Toyota scrapped the design of the FT-86?

[xtop]

This is... odd. But here's the very long story short. Japan's Holiday Autos is reporting that Toyota has decided to scrap the design of the so far pretty much beloved FT-86. Don't worry, the FT-86 and its rear-wheel drive, simple, cheap, sporty self isn't in danger. Toyota had three competing designs to work worth and have picked one that they liked better than the car we saw in Tokyo. That is their right and privilege.

This new design is reportedly the work of a Northern American design team also known as Calty Design Research, beating out Toyota's other European and Japanese proposals. The European team is responsible for the FT-86 concept we've seen so far. Trouble is, we have no idea what this new car looks like and we like how the concept looked. FT86club.com has a rendering of what the new car may look like posted here. But again, who knows? Especially as Holiday Autos doesn't strike us as the most trustworthy of sources. We'll try to do some digging and keep you posted. Tip of the floppy fedora to Cameron!

hopefully if its true, the new design is even cooler

[xtop]

We're used to seeing Digg boosting our stories, but once in a while the popular user-voted news site generates some original content of its own. This time, a Digg correspondent got 30 minutes of camera time with Jim Lentz, who, as President and COO of Toyota Motor Sales USA, very well might be the busiest man in America right now. Lentz fielded a series of questions – mostly related to the recall – submitted by users and voted (or Dugg) into the list. But one of them had little to do with the recall at all; it had to do with sportscars.

The question was whether Toyota had any plans, after years without any real sportscar offerings in North America, to bring back the Supra or offer a new affordable sportscar. Lentz's answer, as you can see in the video segment after the jump, was enlightening. The short of it was that the Supra won't be brought back to these shores, but the FT-86 will.

From that we can surmise a few things. First of all, the final production version of the concept will not be called the Supra. Secondly, the FT-86 – or whatever it's called when it comes to market – will be considerably more affordable than the Supra was. And finally, the FT-86 will be coming to North America. So there you have it. But don't take our word for it – we've posted the pertinent excerpt after the jump, along with the full 28-minute video below it.

high level of want

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by xtop

high level of want

You know you want the TURBO edition!

[SteelPen]

The FT-86 better come to the US!

[PrivatePixel]

Here's an interesting rumour regarding the FT-86's design:

Toyota FT-86 Concept Design Rejected

I love the FT-86 Concept's design as is, but I understand that certain elements aren't cost-effective from a manufacturing standpoint, and the design may have to be tweaked to accomodate USDT and NHTSA rules regarding safety; as long as there are enough design cues that retain the 'wow' factor, that's all I want and care about.

[GLaDOS]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

I love the FT-86 Concept's design as is, but I understand that certain elements aren't cost-effective from a manufacturing standpoint, and the design may have to be tweaked to accomodate USDT and NHTSA rules regarding safety; as long as there are enough design cues that retain the 'wow' factor, that's all I want and care about.

I totally agree with you there. If I can recall, the same thing happened when the Tata Nano was announced for US release.

[PrivatePixel]

Oh, and another thing: whatever you do, Toyota, do not badge this as a Scion under any circumstance!

[xtop]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Oh, and another thing: whatever you do, Toyota, do not badge this as a Scion under any circumstance!

i doubt that would happen...a lot. besides, who cares what badge it has anyways?

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Oh, and another thing: whatever you do, Toyota, do not badge this as a Scion under any circumstance!

There's been rumors of a RWD Scion coming for a while now. It wouldn't shock me if they did it.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by xtop

i doubt that would happen...a lot. besides, who cares what badge it has anyways?

At the moment, I can't find the right analogy to describe why Toyota owners (such as myself) do not want a Scion badge adorning their vehicles, even though a Scion is nothing more a rebadged and reskinned Toyota. In some ways, it's akin to having Volkswagen place a "VW" badge on an Audi R8 or RS4, for example. After all, an Audi is nothing more than an overpriced VW, right?

It's about the preservation of heritage and tradition. It's not Scion Motorsports, it's Toyota Motorsports. It's not Scion Racing Development, it's Toyota Racing Development. Some of their most memorable vehicles (e.g. 2000GT, Supra, MR2, AE-86, Celica) bear the Toyota emblem, not Scion's.

[xtop]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

At the moment, I can't find the right analogy to describe why Toyota owners (such as myself) do not want a Scion badge adorning their vehicles, even though a Scion is nothing more a rebadged and reskinned Toyota. In some ways, it's akin to having Volkswagen place a "VW" badge on an Audi R8 or RS4, for example. After all, an Audi is nothing more than an overpriced VW, right?

It's about the preservation of heritage and tradition. It's not Scion Motorsports, it's Toyota Motorsports. It's not Scion Racing Development, it's Toyota Racing Development. Some of their most memorable vehicles (e.g. 2000GT, Supra, MR2, AE-86, Celica) bear the Toyota emblem, not Scion's.

touche

[Polygon]

Originally Posted by xtop

i doubt that would happen...a lot. besides, who cares what badge it has anyways?

Americans.

They will pay more for the same car just because of a badge. A badge or even a model name can make or break a car in America.

[PrivatePixel]

From Autocar.co.uk:

The Toyota FT-86 concept will be a production reality by 2012, arriving in the UK with a target price of less than £20,000 for the entry level model.

To find out more about the car, which rumours suggest will be formally confirmed for production at the upcoming Geneva motor show, Autocar sent Steve Sutcliffe to meet its designer, Jaromir Cech.

In the metal, says Sutcliffe, the charm of the FT-86 is achingly apparent. For starters, it's no more than two-thirds of the size you'd expect it to be. The Audi TT - not a big car - dwarfs it.

Beyond that, the most striking aspect of the car is how low the bonnet line is and how snugly the whole car seems to hug the ground as a result. This is because the engine is derived from Subaru's famous flat-four 2.0-litre 'boxer' unit.

Senior Toyota designer Cech estimates than the bonnet is around 100mm lower than it would be with a conventional four-cylinder engine in place, but cautions: "It won't be quite as low for the production car. Unfortunately, we have to raise it maybe 50mm to meet pedestrian crash protection legislation."

Mechanically, the car is fairly conventional. Suspension is probably wishbones at the front and almost certainly multi-link at the rear, transmission a six-speed manual and the chassis conventional rear-wheel drive.

What will make it special, claims Toyota, is the ultra-light kerb weight, which may be as low as 1250kg in production trim, its purity of response, its handling agility and the fact it will have a proper limited slip differential.

Another distinguishing feature will be its interior, and in particular its dashboard, which may even include software that provides data acquisition for a host of circuits.

Sutcliffe concludes that the FT-86 is a deadly serious attempt to take a slice of the lucrative affordable coupe market , as well as recapture and repackage the DNA that made Toyota's cars so popular in the past. "The sooner it goes into production, the better," he says.