It’s no secret that Toyota and BMW are collaborating on a sports car. While we’ve long suspected that this new car will be the spiritual successor to the beloved Supra, we weren’t sure if the Japanese/German hybrid would actually bear that name. Last week, though, the website supramkv.com turned up more evidence that the Supra nameplate will make its glorious return to the Toyota stable, as Toyota trademarked the name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.
Last sold in the U.S. in 1998, the Supra?particularly the final 1993?1998 generation (above)?is viewed as a high-water mark in Toyota’s history. For years, Toyota has teased us with promises of the vehicle’s return, showing off the gasoline-electric hybrid FT-HS concept car in Detroit in 2007 and most recently teasing the low-slung Toyota FT-1 sports car concept (below) in 2014.
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The upcoming production car is expected to share design cues with the FT-1 concept and its platform and powertrain with the next-generation BMW Z4. Meanwhile, leaks out of Germany last year revealed that Toyota’s sports car is due to launch in 2018 with a BMW six-cylinder under its hood?maintaining the model’s history of straight-six engines. Whether a hybrid powertrain like that seen in the nearly d...