They’ve been seen in camouflage, and Tuesday in Geneva, Switzerland, Toyota took the covers off its new Supra, sort of.
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show was the GR Supra Racing Concept, which Toyota said demonstrates the company’s “commitment to bringing the Supra back to the market,” and as a car that can deliver high performance on the street or the track.
“The Toyota Supra still enjoys an iconic status among sports car aficionados, 16 years on from the end of production,” Toyota said, adding that the popularity of the model has remained because of its presence in the Gran Turismo video game and its role in the first of The Fast and the Furious movies. The GR Supra concept will be featured in the updated Gran Turismo Sport video game scheduled for release next month.
Toyota launched the Supra in 1978 as a larger and more-powerful version of the second-generation Celica. The Supra became a stand-alone model that went through new versions — A60 in 1981, A70 in 1986 and A80 in 1993. Production of the front-engine/rear-drive sports car ended in 2002.
The race-liveried GR Supra Racing Concept wears the No. 90, a historical reference to Supra’s internal codename and, according to Toyota, “a big visual clue to the fact that this concept heralds Supra’s return in a fifth generation.”
The concept was unveiled in racing colors because Kiichiro Toyoda, the company’s founder, believed participation in motorsports provided the challenges of performance and durability that led to the development of better cars, while also generating interest and excitement.
Auto industry observers say the new Supra for the street will be a 2019 model developed alongside the 2019 BMW Z4 as part of the automakers’ joint sports car program. It will be powered by a supercharged inline 6-cylinder engine and capable of sprinting to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds.
