Toyota is rumored to be redesigning the famous Supra, a model from a decade ago that has become very rare, yet ideal for the new “hot rodders.” It is even said that it may be back in the automaker’s offer soon, debuting at the Detroit auto show.
The last time this car was seen was in 2007, when a possible sucessor, namely the FT-HS concept, drove out just as the world economy fell of the cliff. Toyota retreated, but is now being lured out again by models like Nissan’s GT-R and Acura’s NSX. The Supra is supposed to be the prodigy that brings Toyota back in the competitive running.
A powerplant producing more than 400 horsepower would be necessary to do battle with Toyota’s Japanese rivals, and, reflecting the brand’s efforts at Le Mans, augmenting that power with electricity seems more likely than not. It’s been 30 years since the Supra was even close to the top of the best lists and 15 years since the last Supra rolled off a U.S. dealer lot. If this report is to be believed, it would seem that drought is about to end.
What could happen, though, is that the generation of “The Fast and the Furious,” who are all around 30 years old at this point (and hopefully holding good jobs) could take this as an opportunity to imitate their favorite characters, especially in the wake of Paul Walker’s death a few months ago. The itch to create modified “furious” cars has not left, although it has become much less practical as that particular generation gets older. However, if the Supra returned, it is definitely possible that this would be its target audience, especially filling the gaps as the fun car; obviously not the practical family car, and definitely not the “give to your 16-year-old brand new” car. If the rumors prove to be true, it will be very interesting to see who the target market turns out to be, and who actually buys it – it is also possible that the time for this car has passed and to resurrect it would only negatively alter its reputation.
