Toyota Sports Cars

With the pandemic still looming over our heads, 2021 was a pretty action-packed year for the auto industry. Sure, you had challenges, with automakers having to contend with issues like chip shortages, causing delays to consumers. But regardless, the show had to go on and we got some pretty cool cars making their debut, predominantly towards the latter half of 2021.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, 2021 really was also the year, when the market as a whole began to embrace EV’s and you could see several automakers both the legacy as well as EV startups bring several new models to market. Having said that, we did see some pretty cool ICE cars, also make their debut. Now there were several cars that made headlines this year, it was very difficult to pick out the best ones, but the cars on this list definitely stood out. Here’s our list of some of the most highly anticipated and important cars that were unveiled in 2021.

Japanese sports cars from the 1990s are some of the most recognized ones amongst the car culture. As described by Jeremy Clarkson, in a movie about the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Japan took over the world…and then lost it. While the latter is a topic for another time, what is true for the Skyline also goes for these three – the Toyota Supra, Nissan 300Z, and Mazda RX-7. Our colleagues from “EverydayDriver” - Todd Deeken and Paul Schmucker - take us on a spirited drive with these three JDM legends to determine the pros and cons of each and why they are so desired.

When the Toyota GR Yaris was unveiled, the hype surrounding the tiny hot hatch was extremely high, to say the least. However, it was never meant to reach the North American market, which disappointed a lot of enthusiasts. It seems there’s no need to be jealous anymore as Toyota sneakily teases the GR Corolla.

Carwow is back with another one of its epic drag races and this one actually makes quite a bit of sense. Ever since the Alpine A110 S came out, we have been wondering how the French mid-engine sports car would fare against some of the hottest sports cars, currently on sale. The British YouTube channel provides the answer, courtesy of a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS and a Toyota GR Supra.

Toyota wouldn’t be the first brand you think of when talking about exciting cars. However, the Japanese brand has been on something of a roll in recent times and the GR Yaris is one of the best examples. Chris Harris has driven and raced more than a few cars, so he is quite qualified to talk about it while finding out its limits. As you might guess, some epic driving is in store, and here’s what Harris makes of Toyota’s rally-bred hot hatch.

The small cheap fun car is not dead yet. There are several options to be had with a good amount of horsepower and a manual gearbox. However, the amount of brand new, rear-wheel-drive sports cars with a manual gearbox for sale under $30,000 is dwindling.

The Toyota MR2 is making a comeback. This isn’t the first time I’ve said those words, and it probably won’t be the last. After all, rumors about the MR2’s revival go back to as early as 2010, but when the 2020 Toyota Supra launched, things started to get a little out of control. We’ve seen a number of rumors since then, all of which were generally spawned from Tetsuya Tada’s desire to bring the three brothers back. Most of the rumors have been somewhat believeable, but this latest rumors tells of a story that would put the next-gen MR2 well above the Toyota Supra and, well, you’ve got to hear this.

‘Officially Gassed – OG’ came up with an interesting series of races that involved three enthusiast cars – the Nissan R34 GT-R, the Toyota Supra, and the Nissan R35 GT-R Nismo. The R34 and the Supra are highly customized and make a lot more power than the stock output, but the R35 – the most modern of the lot – is bone stock and makes the least power. Which car do you think is going to come out of this with the bragging rights?

If you follow the tuner scene, you are, most likely, familiar with the Rocket Bunny body kits. Originating from Japan, the Rocket Bunny body kits are as striking and as aggressive as possible for a road-going car. Kei Miura’s wide-body designs can make even the most docile-looking car look like a road-going predator. As soon as we learned of the new Toyota GR 86, we knew it was a matter of time before a dedicated Rocket Bunny kit was in the making. Now, we finally have images of the Rocket Bunny 86, and we like what we see.

When we hear Toyota Supra, we often think of Paul Walker, as he drove an orange A80 Supra in the 2001 “The Fast and Furious.” Paul loved the Supra so much he bought one himself – a 1995 white A80 Supra. Paul’s personal Mk IV Supra was used for the final scene of the 2015 “Furious 7”, where a CGI version of the late actor drove into the distance. Now, TOM’s Racing and the Japanese magazine, Safari have teamed up in order to make a spiritual successor to the white Supra, based on the new A90 GR Supra.

Lately, it seems like it’s Toyota GR Supra against the world, as the car is constantly being pitted against other, more powerful vehicles. What’s impressive is that the Supra tends to come out on top, even when pitted against V-8-powered vehicles. Speaking of V-8s, YouTube channel Sam CarLegion has managed to secure a Mercedes AMG C63 S Coupe in order to go up against the GR Supra. Will it win or will it become part of the statistics?

Entering its second generation, the GR 86 has uplifting expectations as a coupe, and carries forward quite a few elements which make it stick to “the roots”. And that, we all know that the GR 86 shares a lot of DNA with the Subaru BRZ, including the same chassis and the engine, but some would argue that the former is lighter and manageable in most conditions. For the 2022 model year, the 86 features a flat-four engine layout but the size has gone up to 2.4-liter and it is still naturally aspirated. The new 86 is offered with your choice of a manual or automatic transmission. Apart from the mechanics, the coupe comes loaded with tech and the cabin gets significant updates to give that new-car feeling. The Gazoo Racing team has put up a big effort to make the GR 86 stand out in the crowd and and it’s fairly affordable for what it offers.

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Toyota Supra, Lego has produced a working 1:1 size replica of the iconic Japanese Sportscar.

The new Toyota Supra is nothing if not controversial. Meant to be a spiritual successor to the legendary Mk.3 Supra, it’s extreme ties to the BMW Z4 didn’t rub a lot of enthusiasts right. To this day, we’re still not sure if the new Supra is even as tunable as the Mk.3, at least not without some crazy 2JZ transplant, anyway. Regardless of what’s possible in real life, the new Toyota Supra is included as a day-one car in Forza Horizon 5 and, so far, it looks like it’ll at least live up to the reputation it’s meant to have in the game.

The Toyota Supra needs no introduction. The 20th-century model came with the famed 2JZ engine and was every kid’s dream car and some point back then. It was Brian’s drive in the Fast and Furious movies and was one of the reasons for its popularity amongst kids. In fact, that car fetched over half-a-million bucks at an auction recently.

The Supra Mk4 was brought to a drag strip by Carwow to take on the Celica GT-Four and the GR Yaris. The GR Yaris, with all the modern tech, beat the Celica and the Supra, but how did the latter two fare against each other?

Do you remember Paul Walker’s 10-second Supra from the first Fast & Furious movies? The one that was painted in a mesmerizing orange shade from the first movie in the franchise? Yeah, well, that orange car was part of the Barrett-Jackson auction held on June 18 and 19, 2021 in Las Vegas and it sold for over half a million bucks! How about that!

By now, it’s painfully obvious that Toyota isn’t interested in reliving the glorious 1990s. Back in those days, they had the SW20 MR-2/MR-S, the Celica GT-Four and SS3, and let’s not forget the venerable Supra Mk IV. However, sports cars cost a lot to develop and their market niche is insignificant compared to something like a Corolla. You can see why, nowadays, Toyota has two front-engine rear-wheel-drive sports cars and both of which are not pure Toyota products – the GR Supra and GR86. The latter, though, is more worthy of the Toyota badge and here’s why.