The Japanese automaker has been very busy this year trying to recapture the American sales lead from General Motors. There's still time before the end of the year, so everyone is pitching in any way they can.
Toyota has more Crown models on the way – albeit we are not sure any of them (Sport CUV and the four-door Sedan are on the launch pad, Estate will follow soon) will make it to the United States. We are also not counting on the 2024 C-HR to receive a visa waiver anymore, but that doesn't matter all that much.
The company has decided its new entry point needs to be the record-breaking Corolla family, complete with Nightshade editions, GR models, and also the Corolla Cross – including in Hybrid form. Then there are also other GR special editions, even more Nightshade models, plus high-profile stuff like the 2024 Grand Highlander, N400 Tacoma, or the returning 2024 Land Cruiser.
And we didn't even mention the Lexus goodies, of course. Or the fact that the company is thoroughly upgrading its roster of models to the 2024 model year, including the all-new Prius 'Hybrid Reborn.' Speaking of the latter, the world has naturally fallen in love with the nameplate all over again – especially in America, where there's a starting price of just $27,650 for the entry-level Prius LE.
So, it's easy to say the 2024 Prius packs a whole lot of charisma and high-end technology into a reasonable price point – and if you want something feisty but just as efficient, there's also the 220-hp Prius Prime plug-in hybrid version. But what if that's still not enough?
Well, no worries, as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators always has a solution, or two, or maybe three. Cue Vishnu Suresh, the self-taught concept artist behind the zephyr_designz moniker on social media, who has been hard at work envisioning that extreme Prius of his in various forms.
It all started during the summer when the heat was on, and the pixel master decided the Prius 'Hybrid Reborn' was too cool for it not to adopt the classic JDM-style tuning process. As such, he envisioned a concept design where the affordable and efficient Prius turned into a hardcore, slammed, and widebody hybrid monster with wide arches, a big rear wing, and cool aftermarket wheels.
But that wasn't enough even for him – he proceeded to morph the virtual prototype into all sorts of things, including an excellent three-door Shooting Brake. Do you think that was enough of Prius for him? Nope, not at all, as some versions were purple while others were so yellow they became the New York City Taxi Edition!
However, now we are back discussing this feisty little Prius all over again because the author tidily wrapped the concept design with the ultimate mod – a Toyota Prius 'Pro Black Edition.' It features all the remarkable characteristics of a 'murdered-out' ride about to embark on a record-breaking lap of Laguna Seca and would certainly stand out in any crowd.
Hopefully, someone will notice it soon, and an aftermarket outlet will be audacious enough to put this thing into the real world! That would be a sight to behold, especially if they also come up with a way to take advantage not just of the matching-black Rotiforms but also of the quad-tipped exhaust system and come up with double the power of the Prius Prime!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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