Toyota to preview ‘Supra’ at Geneva show

Toyota has teased the return of the Supra with a shadowy photograph of a tall rear wing ahead of the 2018 Geneva Motor Show.

But the wing doesn’t belong to the Supra, rather a racing concept which will be revealed to confirm the Supra’s existence.

And that’s if it will even be called the Supra. Toyota is keeping quiet about the name of its next halo sports car, with employees referring to it as ‘The Sports Car’, or ‘the joint project with BMW.’

In fact, the car might not even wear a Toyota badge. Rumours of a Gazoo sub-brand have been circulating, with the idea that the GRMN Yaris was testing the water.

We’re told it’s likely there are only a handful of people in the world who know everything there is to know about the incoming model.

But the most important of those people is Tetsuya Tada, the project lead for the ‘Supra’ and the man behind the Toyota 86.

While the reveal at Geneva is expected to be primarily a styling unveiling, Tada’s presence at the event means some technical details could come from the event.

Visually, expect the car to closely resemble Toyota’s FT-1, but on a smaller platform due to the Z4’s smaller stature. Our renderings seen here are pretty spot-on, we reckon.

When MOTOR broke the story mid-2017, we also revealed that Toyota insiders had let-slip some of the car’s key specs.

Featuring in the engine bay of the halo version, we’re expecting a 3.5-litre V6 with power figures in the 300kW/450Nm region, with WEC-derived hybrid tech helping power along.

Also expected is a 2.0-litre inline four-pot from Lexus in the lower-spec Supra, with around 225kW directed towards the rears.

Both variants will be fitted with eight-speed ZF automatic gearboxes, with no plans for a manual version.

While it’s likely to be some time before we see the Supra – or whatever it’s going to be called – in its production form, 7.45pm on March 6 (AEDT) is when Toyota will officially announce its next halo.