Toyota making a proper AE86 successor!

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: If it is true.......... It won't be sold in the US.

I agree. Performance car buyers aren't buying many Miatas, so this wouldn't sell that much, either.

Let's see what happens with the new Miata, I think we might see an uptick in sales. The demographics of new NC buyers wasn't quite "performance car", it was actually the highest age of any Mazda model. I think the BRZ is a much closer comparison to this concept.

In reply to Keith Tanner:
Agreed. I'm 63 and I don't stick out from the crowd in my local Miata club. Lots of gray haired members, but then the Miata is often their 3rd car. It's surprising how many couples have one each.

I also thought the NC lost a lot of it's beauty compared to the previous models.

In reply to mad_machine:

The NC is popular with the crowd I hang with because it's seen as a more comfortable car to tour in. Our club has a lot of members who will head out for weekend gatherings all over the country and like it's features. The take rate for the retractable hard top has to at least 50%. It's nice to get to the destination in an air conditioned coupe, and then drop the top. I've remained an NB guy because the NC styling didn't appeal to me either.

Interestingly enough, we are getting more BR-Z's at our Central Florida autocrosses than FR-S's. For example, here's the results of our January event where we got 7 BR-Z's vs. 2 FR-S's. At the same event, there were 16 Miata's.

http://www.cfrsolo2.com/2015/01-18-2015-geneva_fin.htm

Toyota should ape the styling of the 2000 GT for a new small coupe. I've been staring at a picture of one in a British magazine for several days. They were a pretty car. Maybe if I win the lottery..........

Cool car and most of us here would like to see it built including me. Of course most of us also like Miatas and the twins and MINIs and so on also including me. The problem is the rest of America doesn't. They don't want little (smaller), or manuals or two doors or little back seats. They want big and leather and luxury and giant NAV systems and ultimate behemoths type vehicles (Simpson reference). I am shocked how many young guys want a full size pick up as there only vehicle now. Around here every other vehicle is a RAM pick up but then all you have to do is show up with a pulse and Chrysler will be happy to lease/sell you one. You don't really even need a job anymore it seems. Anyway, I digress. Very cool car but sadly I just don't see it doing all that well unless it's rock bottom cheap. The times they are a changing.

DeadSkunk wrote: Toyota should ape the styling of the 2000 GT for a new small coupe. I've been staring at a picture of one in a British magazine for several days. They were a pretty car. Maybe if I win the lottery..........

I thought the same thing, but I don't think they'll risk the "image" of their only car with real classic cred on a bargain-bin sports compact. If they ever make a modern 2000GT-looking car, it'll be a 6-digit halo car.

DeadSkunk wrote: In reply to mad_machine: The NC is popular with the crowd I hang with because it's seen as a more comfortable car to tour in. Our club has a lot of members who will head out for weekend gatherings all over the country and like it's features. The take rate for the retractable hard top has to at least 50%. It's nice to get to the destination in an air conditioned coupe, and then drop the top. I've remained an NB guy because the NC styling didn't appeal to me either.

I wasn't a fan of the NC until they made the Club Sport. A few little aesthetic tweaks went a long way in making it look more aggressive.

I agree that the later NCs look better than the initial model.

I'll believe it when I see a bit more.......

DeadSkunk wrote: I agree that the later NCs look better than the initial model.

They work better, too. If the Club Edition had been available in 2006 - and there's no reason why it couldn't have been - I think the NC would have gained a lot more acceptance.

If they are ACTUALLY making this int he wake of that IDX article saying that won't be built then this is hilarious.

It's like for every article about Nissan or Mitsubishi malaise Toyota, Honda, or Ford has an article of a proper car to counter.

The internet begged for the FRS. It came, the internet didn't buy it while complaining that it didn't have enough power. The internet will complain that this new one is too small, too underpowered and too overpriced for what it is.

I'd be STUNNED if it came here.

The Internet sucks. Toyota should have known that and just focused on some new shades of beige. That's what the people pay for.

That blue car looks alot like a Camry xse I just bought.

scottdownsouth wrote: That blue car looks alot like a Camry xse I just bought.

That was sarcasm. I can't believe two of you actually missed that not-so-subtle post.

DeadSkunk wrote: The take rate for the retractable hard top has to at least 50%.

They made one of those? Far out.

Judging take rate by what one individually sees can skew findings a lot. For example, I see more individual BRZs on the road than I do Crosstreks. I think I've only ever seen one FRS on the road. (And believe you me, I check to see if it has a constellation or a cowboy hat logo!) Clearly, this isn't representative of the country as a whole.

Actually, if you look at it, there are GT2000 styling hints in the Frisbys. The peaks of the front fenders, and the short deck and greenhouse come to mind.

In reply to gamby: What did the internet buy instead of the FR-S/BRZ that they claimed they wanted so bad? It's a car I could consider buying new.

Now this is ironic... I just posted yesterday about a company actually producing a lightweight, 150hp j-tin retro. And lo, and BEHOLD! Here we are discussing this. Heh. I'll sleep well tonight. It's a good day.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: In reply to gamby: What did the internet buy instead of the FR-S/BRZ that they claimed they wanted so bad? It's a car I could consider buying new.

The internet bought a $5000 used car, because that's what the internet can afford. The internet had no intention of buying the FRS in the first place, because empirically, $25k is a lot of money.