Several decades have passed since Toyota was been a major contender in the sports car world, but the Japanese automaker is ready to jump back in. In an interview with Evo, Toyota engineer and Gazoo Racing chief Tetsuya Tada said that the Japanese automaker would soon have three sports cars in its lineup with several special-edition performance models sprinkled throughout.
Dubbed the “Three Brothers,” the sports car range will feature the venerable Toyota GT 86 (the same car as the erstwhile Scion FR-S in the US and the Subaru BRZ), the upcoming Supra that’s reported to be a joint project between Toyota and BMW, and a modern-day MR2 that Evo expects might be based off the Toyota SF-R concept from the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show.
Tada-san, the mastermind behind the Toyota GT 86 has a penchant for designing lightweight sports cars, but with more restriction emissions standards in place, he wants to use a hybrid powertrain for the MR2 whose technology will likely be borrowed from Toyota’s LMP1 race cars, according to Evo. Given that the Mazda Miata has dominated the small, affordable, lightweight sports car market, it’ll be nice to see some more competition.