Reviving the Supra - does Toyota really benefit?

It's more than just numbers when your talking performance cars. Sure they could end up selling less than 10K a year but even taking some market share and mindshare away from the BMW and Muscle car variants in this category works to Toyota's benefit.

Halo cars are about brand cachet, bragging rights and creating cars that excite people like us crazy enthusiasts

 

Toyota needs a flagship sports car no question. The Supra fits that role perfectly with little brother FT86.

 

The company's mindset is slowly returning to more excitement and fun with a focus on car's that create passion, starting with the 86 project.

The 1980-90s were an awesome time for Japanese enthusiast cars and I think the 86 and now the FT1 are going to be a rennaissance of sorts at Toyota.

The FT86 started the ball rolling and the FT1 will drive it home. Take a look at their competitors like Honda and Nissan who are still trudging along with their boring unexciting cars and counting their nickels and dimes worrying about sales numbers, costs and bean counter concerns. Toyota saw that and struck gold with the FRS-BRZ by spotting a huge void in the market and now you have Nissan reacting late to the game with potentially bringing back its Z or a Datsun remake.

Same thing will happen with the next Supra IMO. It's going to be hugely successful and drive the other companies to play catchup once again.

 

Totally agree WRC. Cars lack soul these days. Maybe im getting old but man back in the 80's when I was growing up there were the Supras, 3000GT's, 250sx, 300zx, RX7, etc etc. Cars I really lusted after (even to this day when I think about it).

I don't think it's just nostalgia either. Those were exciting cars in its day.

Not that I want to see those cars remade necessarily but man build us some cars that get the blood pumping!
I'lll say this when FT-HS concept dropped it got my interest and wished they brought out that car. Now I feel it even more so with the FT-1

 

well i'm a pretty young dude in my early 20's and i still kind of agree with you. i dint grow up with the mkiii/iv supra and cars like it but there's no denying the japanese sports cars diluted and disappeared.

i grew up owning a mark iii and then moved on to a Mustang when most of those nameplates died out. now im back to imports where my heart is.

 

I see nothing but a benefit to Toyota if it creates a car that people use as wallpapers (like me) and gets people buzzing on twitter (like me).

Screw the bean counters. What do they know?

 

Old? maybe not. Just old skool thinking wanting to feel connected to your car and loving what you drive.

 

Cars have not just gotten more boring but modern tech has made them almost impossible to work on (some brands). They are literally less accessible.... try working on a modern bmw or audi - u need to bring it into the dealer just to remove the bumper. Try working under the hood of a current model year and better make sure you have some engineering background and 10K worth of diagnostic equipment.

Can't even change your own oil without having the dealer reset the service light. I miss the days you could take a car apart and put it back together in your own garage.

 

To bring this back on topic, does Toyota need the FT-1? I would say in order to stay relevant in the top performance game absolutely.

The twins are great cars but they need a HALO car that gets talked about in the same light as the GT-R's of the world.

 

that's a bit of exaggeration lol. you can still change oil on many cars yourself. Sure the really high tech ones you have to bring it into dealer for most things.

 

Just look at what the 86 project has done for Toyota in the sports car world. The FT1 is out of this world, brand it a Supra, build it and they will come guaranteed.

 

Usually flagship and halo cars don't make the company any money. But what they do is strengthens the brands image.

 

yup. The GT-R doesn't sell in big numbers at all but look at the press and image it gives Nissan, which has no other sporty car except for the 370z which nobody buys.

 

It definitely legitimizes their brand and helps the world take them seriously.

Ghosn has said that the GT-R makes money, otherwise it wouldn't be in their lineup, which is interesting. From what I gather though it is pretty much a break-even endeavor for Nissan.