It's one of the most highly anticipated sports cars of the decade, and it's coming to New Zealand next month. Sort of ...
As part of this morning's Fieldays announcement, Toyota New Zealand have confirmed that the manufacturer's FT-1 concept car will be part of their display at the Mystery Creek event.
“The FT-1 has travelled the world, and now it’s our turn to showcase our commitment to fun to drive cars with stunning design and performance,” says Neeraj Lala, Toyota New Zealand’s General Manager of New Vehicle Sales.
“The Supra is going to continue re-igniting the passion for exciting performance cars that was started by the 86 coupe.”
The FT-1 was first unveiled in 2014, and though we didn't know it for sure at the time, most quickly drew similarities between it and the Supra of old. It wasn't until a few years later that Toyota's Global Chief Engineer, Tetsuya Tada, said he would like to see the 'Supra' nameplate return to the Toyota line-up.
Fast forward to 2018, and while we're still waiting on a proper Supra announcement (let alone a concept car), things are approaching a head. In March Toyota whipped the covers off the Gazoo Racing Supra Concept, which remains our best interpretation of what the road-going sports car will actually look like — noticeably milder than the FT-1 but nonetheless a clear cousin.
It's expected that the production-model Supra (which is built on a platform shared with the also upcoming BMW Z4) will land in New Zealand in 2019, which would indicate a late-2018 launch. Hopefully ...
Along with the FT-1 Toyota's stand will include the crew from Emirates Team New Zealand, as well as an Wattbike cycling area. The latter functions not only as a nod to Team New Zealand, but also to the brand's association with the Olympics and Para-Olympics. The Castrol Toyota Racing Series will also be on show, via a tyre-changing competition, with the bulk of Toyota's range also on display.
Fieldays takes place from June 13 to June 16.