Tokyo 2009: Toyota FT-86 Concept

For a while, Toyota seemed unstoppable, with it's cars garnering quality accolades and the sales increasing to a point where it has overtook General Motors as the world's largest automaker.

Toyota President Akio Toyoda has made some interesting comments lately, saying that Toyota is in a state of decline and needs to excitement to help pull them out of it. Is the sky falling? No, but there are things that need to be fixed.

Toyota is in desperate need of excitement and design injected into it's products. Toyota's effort to connect with a younger demographic through Scion hasn't fared very well (or as well as the company hoped). The FT-86 is the company's attempt to do that for the Toyota brand.

The FT-86 was designed at Toyota's  European Development (ED2) facility in France. While not groundbreaking  (as some would seem to claim) the car and it's design are a big step forward for Toyota.

I like the view from the rear is the best - there's no doubt this is one of the best looking Toyotas in years. The inside I like a lot, with a unique control area that is canted toward the driver. Hopefully we'll see some of this design in the production car.

For quite some time, we've been hearing about how Toyota and Subaru would be collaborating on a sports car. The FT-86 is a result of those rumors. Apparently, Subaru will be getting it's own version of the car as well. The real story with the FT-86 has to do with the specifications.

The FT-86 is powered not by a Toyota engine, but by Subaru's 2.0L "Boxer" engine (WRX, anyone?). With that engine, power to the rear wheels and an asking price of around $20,000, the FT-86's specifications read like a wish list of what many have been asking for.

With the FT-86, it is Toyota's aim to get a younger demographic to the brand. There's a lot of goodwill for Toyota,  and I could see the FT-86 being quite successful, if they execute it right.