A True Car Guy CEO
To whoever told Akio Toyoda that ‘Lexus is boring’ straight to his face many, many years ago, let’s just say that the kin of the world’s biggest automaker took it very personally. But instead of throwing a tantrum and sulking in a corner, he led the charge to prove that person — and the world — wrong.
He promised himself that Toyota would no longer make boring cars, and looking at its offerings now, Morizo made good on that vow. Granted, they still make NPC cars, but who would’ve thought that Toyota, of all brands, would have the sportiest lineup among its Japanese peers.
With that, here are five Toyota models with Morizo’s seal of approval.
Toyota
Lexus LFA
Perhaps the ultimate passion project the brand had ever embarked upon, the LFA was a middle finger to those who kept calling Toyota’s luxury brand dull and characterless. It was, quite literally, like no other Lexus made before, or even since.
The carbon-tub GT was defined by two things. The first was with its Yamaha-tuned 4.8-liter V10 dubbed the 1LR-GUE. It was specifically made for the LFA, punching out 553 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, and came with a glorious soundtrack. There was also its astronomical price tag of about $375,000, all of which never made it back to Toyota’s coffers as each one was sold at a loss. Still, what a project.
Toyota GT 86
If the LFA showcased Toyota’s serious sporting intentions, the GT 86 democratized it. Prior to its introduction, Toyota’s last rear-wheel drive sport compact was the Corolla GT-S, also known as the Corolla Levin or Sprinter Trueno. It embodied the spirit of its original AE86 with its relatively modest power output and a playful chassis.
While not built for outright acceleration times, it was made for making the bits between them fun. And if you take a look at your local track day, you’re pretty much guaranteed to see a couple of them in the paddock. Now in its second generation as the GR 86, it continues to be a relatively inexpensive way to get into sports cars.
Toyota
Toyota Yaris GRMN
Before the GR Yaris, there was the Yaris GRMN. GRMN stood for Gazoo Racing, tuned by the Meister of the Nürburgring, but they don’t make badges that long, so GRMN it is. The car was based on the previous-generation Japan/Euro-market Yaris and would later serve as the foundation for the subcompact rocket we know today.
Without the Yaris GRMN, there’s a chance that the GR Yaris might not have gotten off the ground. It helped that the car was successful in rallying, too, and its wins paved the way for a new hot Yaris.
Toyota
Toyota GR Supra
Yes, yes, we’ve heard all the BMW jokes, but the Supra was a good sports car. The German DNA helped it handle well, and Toyota made the B58 engine as strong and robust as possible. While it wraps up production next month, it can still be considered one of the brand’s best sports cars.
We don’t know if Toyota will build a new generation, but the outgoing model had a good run nonetheless. It gained more power in the following years, along with suspension tweaks to make it sharper, and it saw huge success in Japanese motorsport.
Toyota GR Corolla
America was crying out for the GR Yaris, but that car was never meant for the U.S. and Canadian markets. But instead of saying, ‘sorry, not for you guys,’ Toyota worked around it by building the GR Corolla. In fact, the spicy Corolla was only ever meant for North America, but we’re glad it’s being offered in most parts of the world now.
The creation of the GR Corolla also meant that Toyota finally had a true rival for the Honda Civic Type R and Volkswagen Golf R. Past Corolla-based hot hatches always fell short, but this one more than makes up for all the sins of the past.
Toyota
The Future Looks Promising
While Toyoda-san’s tenure as CEO is over, he’s still chairman of the brand, so he’s still influential within the company’s halls. His mandate of ‘no more boring cars’ is still alive and well, as Toyota is set to roll out more sporting vehicles down the line. Let’s also not forget that he was instrumental in making humdrum models drive better, and he was key in making Lexus that little bit more exciting. Thanks to his contributions in the automotive industry, Akio Toyoda has just been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Well deserved, we say.
It’s amazing how all these performance cars made it to production, given Toyota’s generally conservative approach to building cars. Then again, it’s hard to say no to the person whose name is on the building.
