The Toyota GT86 Is Officially No More In The UK

Please pay your respects: the Toyota GT86 is dead. Production of the coupe and its BRZ cousin came to an end at Subaru‘s Ōta plant in Gunma Prefecture, Japan last Autumn, leaving only a small number of dealer-stocked fresh GT86s.

Toyota has confirmed the last of those has now been sold, bringing the car’s near-nine years on sale in Britain to a close. In that time, the car was reasonably popular as far as sports cars go these days, with just under 7500 units shifted.

Its critics moaned about a lack of power and its need for a turbocharger, and while a little more poke wouldn’t have gone amiss, it was pleasingly different from all its contemporaries. Well, near-identical BRZ aside.

Judging by the new version of the BRZ (below), anyone hankering for more power and torque will have their prayers answered. The Subaru, which is expected to be mechanically identical to the next-generation GT86, has a 2.4-litre flat-four producing 225bhp and 184lb ft of torque. The latter figure isn’t a huge increase on the old car, but more importantly, it peaks several thousand RPM lower.

The BRZ won’t be making it to the UK as far as we know, nor the rest of Europe. The GT86, however, which may take on the name ‘GR86‘, is now as good as confirmed for Britain. Although Toyota GB isn’t saying explicitly, the sign off in the press release is telling: “Of course, this is not the end of the story: watch this space for the next chapter.”