The Toyota MX-2 Concept Never Made It to Production, but What a Car This Could Have Been

The Toyota MX-2 is this bizarre secret that Toyota locked in some room and threw the key into the ocean, making sure no one would find it. But things have changed over the years, and here we are looking at the concept car from the 1980s. They must have found that key at the bottom of the ocean.

First, there was the MX-1 concept car. The Mazda MX-5 was not even a plan back then, so Toyota had no connection whatsoever with the Miata roadster that entered production in Hiroshima later on, in 1989.

The MX-1 was never just a design sketch. In 1983, Toyota built a full-scale model, which featured a mid-engine layout and scissor-style doors. It sported an innovative design language and tech. The Catly designers really believed in it.

It was an era in which the Toyota team had unlimited freedom. They could use their imagination in ways other design studios would not allow at the time.

And they went out of their way with everything they designed. Well, not everything got the green light, though. Toyota is now showing those concept cars that never got past the walls of the design studios. And this insane MX-2 was on the list.

They designed it as a pure race car. It was a kind of curiosity, which could have been a rival for the Acura NSX. The two of them showed a striking similarity, they were like brothers from different mothers. It was a two-seater mid-engined coupe sports car, just like the model manufactured by Honda.

And if the board of directors approved the project, it would have arrived just in time to give the NSX a run for its money. Unfortunately, it never happened.

But you can’t possibly blame it on Catly Design Research Incorporated. The California-based studio was the first for a Japanese automaker in the United States. Why did Toyota choose a location outside its home country?

It was because an International team would come up with more creative ideas in a way that was not possible in Japan, with the always cost-obsessed executives peeking over the shoulders of the designers.

First, CALTY was founded in El Segundo. Then it moved to Newport Beach. And did that with a reputation. Everyone in the business knew that was a place where designers were allowed to dream.

That is exactly why the MX-2 looks like a genuine 1990s supercar concept. The model displayed curves that none of the Toyota models showed before. And it came with the forward-hinged gullwing doors and a liftable rear canopy, plus a body made from fiberglass-reinforced plastic. It just opened like a box to reveal all the presents inside.

Toyota put in a swing arm steering wheel, which could easily accommodate both left- and right-hand drive configurations. They were ready to sell it in Japan and export it to the rest of the world as well. But maybe the world was not ready for such a car.

At the time, Toyota was building the wedge-shaped first generation of the MR2. It was a mid-engine car, similar to the MX-2 concept, but not quite. They were also working on the second-generation Supra. So the sports car segment was pretty overcrowded at the time.

While the MX-2 remained behind closed doors for decades to come, Toyota gave us the third-generation Celica sedan with a design that would not win any beauty contests in 1989 and the Previa van, which looked like a wardrobe on wheels, in 1990.

The CALTY studio also came up with the FJ Cruiser in 2006, with a front fascia with round headlights, reminiscent of the vintage Land Cruiser. A trailer concept saw the light of day in 1975, but never the production line.

Those were the times that the MX-2 would have broken barriers. But it did not. The Celica and the Previa did not, either. But maybe, just maybe, one day, those designers are going to come up with a modern version of the 1980s concept car, which will surely be electric or electrified. And they will get the green light on that second attempt. Hey, this is California. It’s where the dreams come true.

To mark the 50th anniversary, CATLY came up with the Toyota Baby Lunar Cruiser (TBLC), which carries over design cues from the original FJ40 Land Cruiser. It sports in-wheel electric motors, dual joystick controls, airless tires, and a splitgate configuration. There are adjustable frame seats, plus cameras and LiDAR/radar sensors that would simplify navigation on the Moon or any planet in our solar system for that matter.