Toyota's FT-1 Concept is What It Imagines as Its Ultimate Sports Car

ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
4570 photos
10 videos
has not always been the boring car company that it is today. Look back to the 80s when it had the CelicaToyota CelicaJapan, 1970 > 20097 series
65 versions
34 photos
, SupraToyota SupraJapan, 1979 > 20024 series
17 versions
15 photos
, MR2Toyota MR2Japan, 1984 > 20073 series
23 versions
9 photos
and sporty versions of the CorollaToyota CorollaJapan, 1966 > present11 series
179 versions
108 photos
all on sale at once. Its FT-1 ConceptToyota FT-1Japan, 2014 > 2014 for the North American International Auto Show indicates that that company has not completely forgotten how to build a sports car.

The wildly styled concept comes from Toyota’s Calty Design Research center in California that celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The name means Future Toyota, and it claims that the “1” represents that it is the brand’s ultimate car.

The look of the FT-1 almost defies description and will certainly be polarizing. The most glaring feature at the front is the deeply creased, point nose that goes from the car’s flanks to the very tip of the front. It is flanked by two pods of LED headlights with a strip of LED running lights underneath. The roof is low enough to need to bubbles for the driver and passenger’s head. The profile echoes the LFA with a quickly sloping rear that leads to an active rear wing. If the front is weird, then the rear is insane. Even with the wing down, there is a huge duckbill spoiler poking up from the center. Plus, there is a massive diffuser and two, large cooling ducts to pull air through the rear brakes. The FT-1 looks like nothing else on the road.

“Our team was heavily influenced by Toyota’s sports car past, especially Celica and Supra, and we sought to capture some of that history.  It is an aggressive, track-focused sports car concept with a presence that has been amplified for shock and awe,” Alex Shen, Calty’s Studio Chief Designer.

Inside, the windshield and side glass wrap around the driver to maximize visibility. The steering wheel is inspired by Toyota’s time in Formula 1. A color heads-up display keeps the driver’s eyes on the road.

As a concept, Toyota is not saying anything about what would power the FT-1 other than that it would have a front-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive

The car will be available to download in Gran Turismo 6 in the near future.