Is Toyota’s GR GT3 Concept just that, or a preview of another road and race car special?
Toyota has announced its plans for this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon next week, confirming the debut of two very exciting new offerings from the Gazoo Racing team that represent its efforts in both the world rally and world endurance championships. Alongside a hotter take on the GR Yaris, Toyota’s also bringing along this GR GT3 Concept, its take on the ultimate GT3 class racer.
This is interesting not only because it previews a new competition car Toyota might have in development, but also a potential road-going version – something that all GT3 cars require in their homologation.
Toyota already has two rear-wheel drive sports models on its fleet with the GR Supra and GR86, but as the teaser image reveals, the GT3 Concept isn’t based on either of those cars. Instead, it features an extreme cab-rear silhouette with a long bonnet and short tail, not dissimilar to an AMG GT.
The rear end looks especially interesting, as underneath the huge rear wing also sits an aggressively integrated ducktail that borders the rear screen, itself subtly wrapping around the side of the car – similar in effect to an Alpine A110 or even the FD Mazda RX-7.
Look closely and you’ll note plenty of GT3-typical aero elements such as the tall rear wing and pressure-relief vents on the front wheel arch, but for what is proposed at this point to be merely a concept racing car, Toyota’s design team haven’t held back on the main car’s design.
Will this result in another new sports car for the Gazoo Racing range? Ruminations of Toyota introducing a fourth bespoke GR model to the range aren’t new, but they generally pointed towards a reboot of the iconic, and mid-engined, MR2. This larger front-engined, rear-wheel drive concept differs markedly from that, and given it’s quite distinct silhouette and larger dimensions is unlikely to replace either the Supra or GR86 either, although we’ll have to wait and see until the car’s revealed in full to get a better idea.
