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Toyota: No Supra for Detroit, SUV Lineup to Expand

If you were hoping to see the return of the Toyota Supra in January at the North American International Auto Show, you will be disappointed.

It’s too soon to unveil the much-anticipated sports car. Specifications are still being finalized and it’s not at production levels yet, said Jack Hollis, Toyota group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division in North America.

Even the name has not been pinned down. Supra is a candidate but not the only candidate. In fact, “there are other names that could be better,” Hollis told Motor Trend in an interview. Cressida? Celica? And there have been suggestions it could be badged Gazoo instead of Toyota, a nod to Toyota’s Gazoo Racing team.

Toyota collaborated with BMW to create a rear-drive sports car platform for the respective automakers: a Z4 replacement for BMW and a Supra replacement for Toyota, creating some economies of scale for otherwise low-volume vehicles.

We have already seen the next Z4, but the closest we’ve seen to a Supra is the FT-1 concept at the 2014 Detroit auto show and a lot of spy shots of a sports car testing on the Nürburgring. Both cars will be built by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria.

Toyota made four generations of Supra from 1978 to 2002, initially as a derivative of the Celica. Its life was shorter in the U.S. where it left the market in 1998; it had already stopped production for Canada in 1986. It was known for its inline-six engines, and early versions boasted of an independent suspension tuned by Lotus. The third-generation Supra in 1986 split from the Celica which went front-wheel drive while the Supra remained rear-drive. A turbo was added in 1987, and by the fourth generation, it was a twin-turbo.

To partially fill the sports car gap, Toyota introduced the Scion FR-S in 2012 which became the Toyota 86 for the 2017 model year because the Scion brand was discontinued. There is no turbo planned for the 86 because it’s being saved for the Supra.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/toyot...lineup-expand/