Could We See the New Toyota MR2 this Weekend?
Rumors of an upcoming Toyota MR2 rebirth have been swirling for a while, and Toyota is doing nothing to squash them.
In fact, the brand’s performance and racing division, Toyota Gazoo Racing, is teasing that some sort of mid-engine vehicle could appear at the Tokyo Auto Salon this weekend.
First noticed and highlighted by Carscoops, Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda is the center of a cryptic post on the former-twitter. It’s a faux conversation between Morizo (Toyoda’s pseudonym) and a generic Toyota GR staff member. In the conversation, the two discuss Morizo acquiring some sort of mid-engine two-seater and getting it ready to display at the Tokyo Motor Show, which begins January 9th.
What exactly this car will be is a mystery. It could be the rebirth of the Toyota MR2 fans are hoping for, it could be another concept car, or it could simply be a one-off, installing the GR Corolla engine where the backseats should be in that hot hatch, much like the famed Renault 5 Turbo II or Clio V6.
Toyota has done something similar to the latter, with the one-off GR86 that houses the GR Corolla engine and drivetrain. But that was a SEMA show car whereas this is more of a production-focused auto show.
Whatever this teaser refers too, we won’t have to wait long as it allegedly should debut in just a few days. Keep checking these pages as we learn more.
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A 20+ year industry veteran, Mike rejoins the AutoGuide team as the Managing Editor. He started his career at a young age working at dealerships, car rentals, and used car advertisers. He then found his true passion, automotive writing. After contributing to multiple websites for several years, he spent the next six years working at the head office of an automotive OEM, before returning back to the field he loves. He is a member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA). He's the recipient of a feature writing of the year award and multiple video of the year awards.
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Back in '93 or so I remember driving through our underground parking lot and where a co-worker used to have an 8 year old GM now sat a brand new Fire engine Red MR2.
Car of my dreams. That sleek looking (also fast and fun looking) Red Rocket was the car I had to have!
The pictures of this new one, be they prototype or just abstract art just don't do it. The styling is not something I would want to be seen in. Why for the last twenty years does everything have to look like it was designed by the art guys that did the Transformers movie??!!