According to reports from Japan Toyota’s upcoming MR2 is progressing nicely. The question apparently isn’t whether they should pursue an MR2 at all, but whether it should have one or two decklids. On the one hand, a single rear door that opens to reveal the engine and a storage area would make it more exotic, like a Ferrari or new NSX. On the other, previous generations of MR2 have used a “double deck” setup with separate doors for engine and trunk.
As reported by Best Car, this and other details about the design have emerged. The MR2 will also have a very low hood and short fenders, but the A-pillars are “surprisingly tall”. Above the rear quarter panels will be an air duct to funnel oxygen into the mid-mounted engine. The report also says the MR2’s length will clock in at around 4400 mm, which is about an inch longer than GR Supra and an inch shorter than an Audi R8.
As we wrote in December, the MR2 is said to be powered by the 1.6-liter turbo 3-cylinder used in the GR Yaris and GR Corolla. It would be tuned to make around 316 horsepower, mated to either a 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic, and weigh around 2,870 pounds. Originally Toyota planned for the MR2 to be a mid-engined GR Yaris. It would’ve retained the hatchback profile but be a limited production car of 500 units.
However, product planners decided such a car would not be different enough, so they changed course and decided to make it a more sporty-looking machine like the MR2. Unfortunately, Best Car has adjusted their production estimate downward to only 50 to 100 units built. It’s estimated to cost about ¥10 million ($66,000 USD) and will be sold only in Japan. The report says it will also likely be the last purely gasoline car Toyota ever makes, a sort of last hurrah for internal combustion.
Surely even Toyota cannot R+D and build 100 cars for $6.6million USD. Hopefully its more than a JDM 100 car run. That will be tragic.
50 to 100 units only?????? Only for Japan???????
Why bother?
Typical Japanese practice of “Limited Editions” that’s found in everything from anime goods to… cars.
I had the privilege of driving an ’85 MR2 once … been hooked on it since. Either configuration works, it’s not which one is more exotic as ad rear engine decklid but, which one gets the car over here rather than as JDM only and waiting until ’48 … when I’ll be 100 years old and either not here or too old to drive one!
Spot on sir!
While it would be 1 inch longer than a GR Supra it would be significantly longer than previous generations of the MR2: 18 inches for Gen 1, 9 inches for Gen 2, and 20 inches for Gen 3. So anyone expecting a small sports car similar to previous generations will be disappointed. I think a more appropriate comparison would be to the GR 86 as that is the chassis they are most likely to use (it is 5.4 inches longer than it).
There is something I might be missing, but what are they making here?
All-out mid-engined sports car? It is 250hp under the Acura NSX, 100hp under the 400Z, so no, it would not be taken seriously for this market.
Fun and accessible mid-engined sporty car? If it means to compete with the pure bags of fun that are the MX-5 and GR86 and bring back the first-gen MR2 charm, it needs to lose both weight and horsepower, so no.
Limited series Halo car? What would be the point of a $66k USD-equivalent price if it is going to be rarer than the LFA? There is no point in bringing prices down via parts sharing if limited to a hundred cars, make it 2x, 3x as expensive, something aspirational!
Some comparisons I think armchair specialists (like me!) should look at:
Alfa Romeo 4C, with a turbo 1.7 making 237hp pushing 2315lbs (US-spec, wiki-sourced), super tossable, no power-steering, kind of a fast first-gen or lightweight second-gen MR2.
Lotus Elise, series 3, the Toyota-sourced 1.8 producing 134hp against 2015 pounds (wiki once again), known as a pure driver’s car and pretty close in specs to the thirh-gen MR2.
Lotus Exige, series 3, the Toyota-sourced but supercharged 3.5 V6 making 345hp moving 2593 pounds (wiki), this car is a tool to carve a racetrack.
This MR2 revival aims for a predicted 316hp moving 2870 pounds, it could be a really cool, everyman’s Lotus, but it is aiming at confidential production numbers… The only reason I see this car being created for is for homologation, but what race series would it be aiming for?
Please understand that I am not dissing the MR2 revival, but I want to understand what it is and if it means something for all of us fans and the sports cars market, or if it only means something to 50 to 100 japanese car collectors.
BTW, I vote for double decklid!
Apparently the market for cars in North America has taken a back seat to SUV sales. I wonder if GR Corolla, 86, and Supra sales are not to forecast, causing Toyota to rethink a sporty car like the MR2 and Celica.
The whole point of the exercise is to revive a model name.
Everything else; profit/loss, rarity, market reaction etc are secondary, tertiary and quarternary.
The S660 and many other cars are Japan-only too.
I get that it is made for their domestic market so they will not make that much copies, what I do not understand is that it is made affordable and limited.
If limited by a quantity of 50 to 100 cars, the price is only limited by what potential customers agree to pay.
If limited by a price of $66k USD equivalent, quantity should be limited by market size, factory availability and all that.
My part 2 of 3 would not send, but I compared the specs to some Lotus, this could be an everyman’s lotus, if only they make them!
Wow, I really hope it sells outside of Japan. The FT-Se and the previous Sport EV concepts both look amazing. I’ve owned nothing but used cars and told myself I’d buy an new MR2 if Toyota ever made one, so here’s hoping we get it in a few years. I wonder what the final product is gonna look like. There’s several different artist impressions out there and they all look cool, but the two concept cars that Toyota has made are very similar to each other and look more like a Lotus.