Photo: Aksyonov Nikita
The sports car is witnessing a rebirth right now. Will it last? It probably depends on how automakers play their cards. One good example is Toyota's decision whether or not to have the new Supra as a roadster alongside the coupe.
We've waited many years to see the production version of the FT-1 concept. There seem to be equal reasons to hate the car as there are to love it. The design is fussy, but bold, while the powertrain is good but not game-changing. So Toyota needs to decide whether to give people what they ask for or adopt a "we know best" strategy.
Supra purists complained about not having a manual gearbox. Of course, the ZF auto is nothing like the classic auto that sparked so many memes. But with a BMW 3-liter turbo under the hood that's not as easily tuned, it's pretty clear that the formula has changed since the '90s.
Toyota is considering developing a Supra convertible or roadster, whatever you want to call it. Since it's based on the same platform as the BMW Z4, making such a version would be relatively straightforward.
Just a day after the official reveal, we already have Supra convertible renderings coming from two sources, X-Tomi, and Aksyonov Nikita. There's probably more out there. Even if the Supra and Z4 weren't related, we would see such images because it's common to image sports cars with different body styles: shooting brake, 4-door and even off-road.
Other companies which have developed sports cars are looking into convertibles. Alpine's A110 is a good example, so is the Lexus LC, which we saw without a top in Detroit this week.
Two things would hurt the Supra when transitioning into a roadster. The first is weight - the Z4 M40i is about 25 kilos heavier, for example. The other is price. Would people pay close to $60,000 for a Toyota convertible?
Beyond that, the company needs to think very carefully where it spends its development money. The GT86 was also supposed to go topless, but they decided against it, a decision we support, since it probably wouldn't have boosted the appeal of the model.
Supra purists complained about not having a manual gearbox. Of course, the ZF auto is nothing like the classic auto that sparked so many memes. But with a BMW 3-liter turbo under the hood that's not as easily tuned, it's pretty clear that the formula has changed since the '90s.
Toyota is considering developing a Supra convertible or roadster, whatever you want to call it. Since it's based on the same platform as the BMW Z4, making such a version would be relatively straightforward.
Just a day after the official reveal, we already have Supra convertible renderings coming from two sources, X-Tomi, and Aksyonov Nikita. There's probably more out there. Even if the Supra and Z4 weren't related, we would see such images because it's common to image sports cars with different body styles: shooting brake, 4-door and even off-road.
Other companies which have developed sports cars are looking into convertibles. Alpine's A110 is a good example, so is the Lexus LC, which we saw without a top in Detroit this week.
Two things would hurt the Supra when transitioning into a roadster. The first is weight - the Z4 M40i is about 25 kilos heavier, for example. The other is price. Would people pay close to $60,000 for a Toyota convertible?
Beyond that, the company needs to think very carefully where it spends its development money. The GT86 was also supposed to go topless, but they decided against it, a decision we support, since it probably wouldn't have boosted the appeal of the model.
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