12:37 pm, February 3, 2021
The final GT86 has left the showroom as the Japanese manufacturer plans to reinvent its sports car with a new name.
The new model is expected to retain the same ethos as the outgoing version, despite only selling 7,500 units over the best part of nine years on sale.
It was born out of a plan to collaborate with Subaru on a back-to-basics, affordable sports car, which has earned it something of a cult hero status among car enthusiasts despite not setting the sales charts alight.
The collaboration saw Subaru supply a ‘boxer’ engine and saw both companies sell near-identical versions.
Although this is the end for the GT86 as it is now, a next-generation version is planned and is expected to be revealed later this year under a new name: GR86. Toyota’s go-faster models all now have a GR moniker, such as the GR Supra and GR Yaris, named after its performance and motorsport division Gazoo Racing.
Subaru has already revealed the new BRZ with a larger 2.4-litre engine, so expect the GR86 to follow suit.
The plan for the Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ twins first started way back in 2005 when the companies wanted to work together on a sports car project. Toyota’s version was revealed at the 2011 Tokyo motor show before going on sale a year later.
It has received minor styling tweaks as the years have passed, but little has changed on the mechanical side of things, with the firms resisting calls from enthusiasts for turbocharging and more performance.
