Toyota, being one of the largest and most powerful single car brands in the world, likes to march to its own beat. It doesn't just build concepts that preview next year's production model nor does it try to preview the distant future.
Sometimes, its creations boggle the mind, like the Century GRMN, which probably costs as much as several Lexus limos. This is one of those head-scratchers, the La Coupe. It popped up on everyone's radar last week, causing many to speculate that it was the reincarnation of the legendary MR2 or a patent for the eventual third sports car that sits under the GT86.
But it's actually nothing of the sort. This is a concept car that must have been revealed several months ago yet never got the big press release treatment. Probably taking inspiration from nature's tricksters, its design is basically the same at the front and back.
The concept is very smooth and streamlined as a coupe should. The fact that its rear is so long led you to believe that's where the hybrid powertrain resides. However, we have no technical data about it. The streamlined body has been compared to several European creations, such as the Peugeot RCZ or the Alpina A110, but that's because all of them have some kind of retro inspiration.
In Toyota's case, we're thinking about classics like the Sports 800 or the legendary 2000GT. If you're interested to know more about the concept, probably the best thing to do is to follow the forum thread on SupraMKV. But honestly, this probably won't see the light of production. And if it does, a 2-seater hybrid with sports styling isn't going to work outside of Japan. Just ask Honda about the CR-Z. And it's not like a hybrid is going to make fans of the MR2 happy.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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