Volkswagen once made a Thing, but when we say this is Toyota’s new thing, we don’t mean a giant steel bucket. We mean it in the way that your Uncle Ted pulling quarters out of your ears is his thing. Toyota’s new thing, based on the FT-86 II concept it's showing in Geneva, is having multiple versions and skins of a concept car before finally unveiling the production model.
We saw this first with the Lexus LFA,
which went through at least three concept permutations before seeing production in a form that was a dead ringer for the first. Like the LFA, the first version of the FT-86 concept was a bit bland. The most interesting thing about it—aesthetically speaking, anyway—was the color, which a Japanese engineer said was the “traditional red color of a Japanese monkey’s backside.” (You should see the things those mod monkeys are doing with their backside colors these days.)
The paint on this second iteration of the FT-86 concept must have been inspired by a goth Japanese monkey. But there’s a lot more to the evolution of the concept’s styling than just the color. Like the second LFA, this FT-86 gets more billow to its shape, with flowing, organic flares swelling around the wheels, a more sculpted hood, and a far more intricately designed backside, this one featuring white taillights.
One Mean Monkey
Up front, the FT-86 II has a more menacing maw than that of the first car. A huge, oval grille stretches nearly to the ground and is flanked by LED running lights. The narrow, squinty headlights remain, although they flow into fenders more peaked than the original’s. The aggressive look continues around back, with numerous vents and a diffuser adding a track-ready appearance.
Aside from the updated shape of concept 2.0, Toyota didn’t have much to share on the car. It did tell us that this version of the concept is 166.7 inches long—with a 101.2-inch wheelbase—70.7 inches wide, and 50 inches tall. That’s within two inches of the Nissan 370Z in those dimensions, although the Toyota’s naturally aspirated 2.0-liter Subaru flat-four will trail the Z’s 332 horsepower by about, oh, 130 or so. (For those that hated math class, that means this car should get about 200 hp.) That said, this car is likely going to be much cheaper than the Z. Based on what we've learned about the Subaru version of this car, the suspension should consist of struts up front and multiple links out back, there will be a 2+2 seating layout, and the curb weight should come in around 2800 pounds. A turbocharged version, at least according to Subie, is "always possible."
March 2011
by Jared Gall, Photographers by Tin Andrew and The manufacturer
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