2018 Geneva Motor Show: Toyota Supra scooped ahead of official reveal

A JAPANESE magazine has published images of what it claims is the reborn Toyota Supra, just weeks ahead of its official reveal at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

Sharp looking with a long bonnet and rearward cabin, double hump roof and featuring more than a touch of LMP1-influenced design around the front and even a touch of Lexus LFA down the rear, the car looks stunning.

Toyota has already confirmed we’d see the return of an iconic name at March’s Geneva Motor Show, releasing a single teaser image of a big wing believed to be fitted to a motorsport-honed version of the Supra that will make its debut alongside the production car.

The Supra looks to be an advance of the FT-1 concept car, a track-honed two-seater penned in Toyota’s US-based Calty studios and unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in 2014. Gone, though are the smoked glass insert in the bonnet that allows a view of the front-mounted engine, and the big fans filling the gaping maw on either side of the shovelnose front. Down the rear, it’s all LMP1, but the one thing we’re hoping for – the active rear wing – isn’t revealed in any of the images.

Underneath everything is a BMW-derived platform that’ll be shared with the upcoming next-gen BMW Z4. Japanese magazine Holiday Auto claims the Supra will sit on a 2470mm wheelbase and measure 4380mm long and 1850mm wide. Height is a Lotus-like 1280mm, while the kerb weight will range between 1350kg and 1430kg – significantly heavier than a Toyota 86 and suggesting the Supra will also be tasked with lugging around a heavy hybrid system.

Holiday Auto says the base version of the Supra will use a 2.0-litre turbo four-pot producing either 143kW or 188kW, potentially enhanced via a hybrid system. Rounding out the Supra range, though, is expected to be a 246kW 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six – a homage to the previous-generation Supra.

Power is likely to go to the rear wheels via a BMW-sourced eight-speed automatic.

The 88th Geneva Motor Show starts on March 6. Visit wheelsmag.com.au for all the latest new car news and reveals as they happen.