The world seems to have come to grips with the new Toyota Supra. We've accepted that it will likely never live up to the hype of the previous model (we basically knew that from the moment the BMW collaboration was announced). Still given how high that bar was set, it leaves the current generation plenty of room to achieve its own version of greatness.
However, it's hard to imagine the design of the Japanese icon's fifth generation will ever live up to its predecessor's, and that's because it's simply not very... memorable. You could argue the Mk IV actually had a more simplistic appearance, and you'd be right, but that's precisely what made it (and still does) stand out. The new one? It somehow manages to feel a bit too generic while also missing the simplicity approach.
Of course, only time will tell whether the Mk V will leave an imprint that's at least comparable to the 1990's model, though all signs seem to indicate that could be asking more of the BMW co-developed car than it's humanly (well, machinely) possible. The Mk IV could very well be one of those unrepeatable hits that the following models will always be judged against and found to be lacking. It's kind of like being Michael Jordan's son and picking up basketball - you know what you're getting yourself in from day one.
Photo: Gaetano de Ciccio via Instagram
However difficult it might be for the new model to compete against the legendary 2JZ engine, it's safe to say its overall reception would have been boosted by a slightly more unconventional design. On the other hand, the carmaker did a great job of maintaining an obvious resemblance between the concept and the production version. Yet, if you take a few steps back, you can't help but notice the two are somehow nothing alike. One is cool and exciting, the other is not.
One proposal that would take care of that problem (while, admittedly, creating others) comes from a designer called Gaetano de Cicco. Since this doesn't need to be anchored in reality in any way, his creation ventures a bit on the wild side (read "impossible to become reality"), but the main design cues are there to be noticed and appreciated.
The one thing that makes very little sense about Gaetano's creation is the size of the greenhouse - sure, it may look cool (though that's pretty debatable also), but it would severely hamper the driver's visibility in any other situation than having to go straight down a track or a freeway. The lack of side mirrors is also debatable and constitutes another unfair advantage this rendering has over the series model.
Photo: Gaetano de Ciccio via Instagram
The same could be said about the wheel arches that wrap tightly around the wheels all the way down, something that wouldn't pass in the real world either. Still, we wouldn't mind seeing that front end on the street, and the tall, abruptly-ending rear gives it a muscular pose, as opposed to the rather athletic one of the production car.
Upon closer inspection, this independent concept car may not be the ultimate take on what the new model should have looked like, but it does expose Toyota's risk-free approach for the latest iteration of arguably its most famous sports car. There is definitely room for improvement in both the actual car's and this rendering's cases, though whoever is interested in taking up the job to sort them out might have to look in separate places for each.
Alright, perhaps we need to be thinking of a mashup. Take the overall shape of the Supra you can buy at your local Toyota dealer right now and simply apply the rendering's front end with as few modifications as possible (bigger intakes might be necessary, though). Then, try to adapt the digital car's rear to work with the actual one (the straight and narrow taillights work a lot better in our opinion) and we might have a winner. Or, since things may sound better in theory than in practice, we might as well have a "wiener." We guess we'll never know.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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