Toyota has finally unveiled the new Supra at the
Geneva Auto Show and the car looks absolutely fantastic. The official name of the
car is the GR Supra Racing Concept, and it revives the most celebrated model in Toyota's sports car heritage. The automaker also says that the concept "demonstrates Toyota's commitment" to bringing the Supra back to the market and that it "shows the future potential for a car that can deliver high performance both on road and track."
Looking at the Supra concept, you can certainly see the heritage of the previous models in its lines. The last time a Supra was in production was 16 years ago (in Japan). Despite being out of production for nearly two decades, the Supra still has legions of fans thank to the car being a staple in the Gran Turismo game series and having been the marquee car in the original The Fast and the Furious movie.
Some of the Supra's younger fans might not know that the car has quite the racing pedigree. The fourth-generation Supra that launched in 1993 was a dominating car in the All-Japan GT racing, now known as the Super GT series.
The GR Supra Racing Concept is a front-engine/rear-wheel drive configuration that Toyota says uses advanced lightweight materials. The concept was created by Toyota Gazoo Racing and wears a large 90 racing number on the door. That is a hat tip to the codename of the car historically.
Toyota wrote, "This ethos has been fully embraced by both Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda and by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, with the pursuit of success at the highest levels of international motorsport, including the World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours race. Taking part in these and other racing series around the world provides technical learnings that can be transferred from the race track or rally stage to development of not just new generations of Toyota's sports-focused GR models, but also to its wider range of vehicles, driven by tens of millions of people around the world."
Inside the concept, the entire cabin is focused on competition with a racing dashboard, OMP driver's seat and safety harness. The steering wheel is a quick release unit and the car has a paddle shift system. The car also has a full roll cage, fire extinguishers, and all components are designed to racing standards. There is no [official] word on what will power the the vehicle, but it's pretty much a given that it will share turbocharged BMW inline-4 and inline-6 engines with the next generation BMW Z4 (which it will share a platform with). The GR Supra Racing Concept will be featured in a new update for Gran Turismo Sport that will launch in April 2018.
