Toyota Wants To Revive The MR2, And It Might End Up Being Electric
We’re not quite sure what we’ll do with ourselves once the new Toyota Supra is at last revealed at the Detroit Auto Show next January. It’ll arrive five years after its concept preview - the FT-1 - was first revealed, riding on a wave of hype.
Perhaps what we’ll need is the prospect of another new Toyota sports car and the inevitable deluge of reports, teasers and rumours to fill out time. A car like the MR2.
Important figures from the Japanese company have hinted on several occasions in the last few months that the MR2 name could return. This week, Autocar is reporting that Toyota is in the “discussion stage” when it comes to the model’s return.
Those were the words of European vice president of sales and marketing Matt Harrison at the Paris Motor Show a few weeks ago, who also referenced the ‘Three Brothers’ - a term used in the past both by company boss Akio Toyoda and Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. These ‘siblings’ are believed to be the new Supra, the GT86 and a third new car, which could end up being this near-mythical MR2 revival.
Should the MR2 make a return, Autocar claims it is “looking likely” that the car would be fully electric, primarily for costs reasons. The only problem is this doesn’t exactly fit with the ‘Midship Runabout 2-seater’ name since it’d involve a battery pack sitting on the floor and a motor on the rear axle.
That’s not exactly a mid-engined car, but Toyota could still make a new MR2 that’s truer to the layout of the original three generations. It could do so via a joint venture - like the one with BMW, which gave the world the new Supra and a new Z4 - suggested Supra assistant chief engineer Masayuki Kai recently.
Whatever happens, it’s likely we end up waiting years before seeing a production car.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Stop electrifying cars
Just use the engine from the elise
I could get on board with an electric variant and I am sure that it would not be hard for Toyota to find a partner that would be interested in co-developing it in exchange for shared engineering.
An electric MR2 could ensure a petrol powered Supra and, more importantly, a naturally aspirated Gt86 for many years to come.
This could be what the electric car industry needs. Now let’s hope it doesn’t end up being hideously expensive or heavy.
If its electric, its going to be heavier and pricier than it would be with a petrol engine. A petrol engine is the answer here.
It seems like the most sensible electric layout to me. Let’s go Tokyo!
Mid-Battery’d Runabout 2-seater?
the motor can still be between the axles
no
No, just no.
If you want to make another vacuum cleaner, please do not ruin the MR2’s reputation with it.
It better not be electric
Im ok with that