So this car has been shown for a while now, ahead of its April release in Japan. An affordable back-to-basics sports-car and a joint effort between Subaru and Toyota, the GT86 is a return to a more minimalistic approach to sports-cars, something Mazda did so well with the MX-5.
The Japanese market love a tuneable car. And that means that the buyer who wants to tune their car wants to spend as little as possible buying the basic shell so the rest of the cash can go on the ‘cool’ bits.
Behold…the RC version. How cool is this?
Stripped bare, this thing is the rawest and purest expression of the original concept of the car. We’re talking un-painted bumpers front+rear..
..which if someone had described them to me I’d be unconvinced, but seeing them on this car I like them.
..Steel wheels..
And no radio..or even speakers. And yep, those are vinyl seats. You too could relive those bare-leg/ hot-vinyl seat moments from the ’70′s…
I’d be tempted to leave this exactly as it is here. Keep the weight down, keep things simple.
And the best bit? In Japan this version sells for £16K.
Detroit NAIAS rocks around once again. I can only look on in winter-wonderment at the array of tasty concepts that are gradually being launched over the other side of the pond..
Looks like some of the more savvy OEM’s are slowly waking up to the idea of a small sporty B-segment car to tempt the ‘Next-Gen’ demographic. First were Toyota and Subaru with their rear-drive GT86/BRZ a few weeks back…
Now GM are getting in on the act with their snappily-named Code130R and Tru140S; two quite different interpretations of a similar brief. Compact sports cars designed to appeal to the under 30′s for around $20K.
The 130 is unashamedly retro with a long hood, soft surfacing and almost curvaceous lines. It brings to mind the shooting-brakes of the ’70′s. Aviators and string-back driving gloves required…
Looooong wheelbase makes for an unusual stance..
The opposite to the 130 which is much more PS3-generation, angular and edgy.
Clever curvature of the roof surfaces gives the 130 a large-car proportion..
Acura/Honda’s NSX, although ‘only’ a concept, finally shows a way back for Honda from the straight-laced mainstream that it does so well to the heady days of the original NSX (one day you will be mine!)…
…when it was widely praised as the ultimate useable supercar. Interesting Hybrid powertrain has to be the way forward; electric motors regenrated by a small high-revving V6. Sounds pretty much perfect to me.
The only fly in the ointment is the slightly OTT frontal styling on the concept. It’s a trait shared with the equally-stunning Lexus LF-LC Concept. Another refined and sophisticated design…
..spoilt by a face that shouts ‘Look at me!’.
I blame Audi for this ‘obscene grille’ trend…
Jan 8
This gallery contains 19 photos.
I’ve had an old photo album that was my grandfathers for a while now. It’s nearly 100 years old so is starting to fade into dust, but before it does I’m scanning and archiving the photos. He was a big car-racing nut, and documented pretty much everything he went to, from the early days of [...]
