Even The Toyota GR Supra's Instrument Cluster Was The Work Of BMW

It’s well known by now that the GR Supra is much more of a BMW than it is a Toyota. It may have unique coupe bodywork, but under the skin, it’s chock full of Bavarian bits.

One exception, we all thought, was the instrument cluster. It’s very different to the all-digital setup in the Z4 sister car, with an LCD rev counter sitting inside a physical dial and some very un-BMW-like fonts appearing. On the face of it, the part looks like Toyota putting its own spin on BMW technology. But that’s not the case.

Motor Trend reports that the cluster was actually developed by BMW’s in-house company Design Works, who gave both the gauges and the menus in i-Drive-based infotainment system a Toyota-ish look and feel.

Does this matter? It’s debatable. We already knew most of the important stuff away from the engine and transmission was from BMW - the suspension components, for instance, all come from Munich, with Toyota making its own tweaks which are indeed evident when you compare the Z4 to the GR Supra.

That said, the not-especially-bespoke nature of the GR Supra is something that’s on our minds right now, given the launch of the GR Yaris. Toyota’s bonkers, all-wheel drive homologation special shows what happens when the company if left to design a fast car on its own, which is inevitably making the Supra seem like something of a missed opportunity.