Is it Toyota or a Lexus? Who cares, it’s a new V8-powered, rear-wheel drive sports car regardless of what badge it will wear – and we’ve just had our first public look at it.
Toyota unleashed both the road-going and GT3 racing version of its new sports car up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last night, our first official glimpse of these often-spied machines.
READ MORE: Toyota’s plans for a new Supra
Neither Toyota nor Lexus revealed official plans for the car, but as it has been more than three years since the GT GT3 Concept first appeared, plenty of intel has slipped out from Toyota HQ and we have a good idea what to expect. And this latest run seemingly confirmed one major detail.
The cars on show at Goodwood are expected to be known as the Lexus LFR, and while powertrains remain an official mystery, the exhaust not from both the road and race cars while running up Lord March’s driveway point to a turbocharged V8 engine. Whether it’s a hybrid or not remains to be seen, although it is likely at least on the road car in order to meet emissions regulations.
The two cars at Goodwood were still wrapped in a camouflage livery to hide the details, but its proportions – with a long bonnet and very rearward cabin – are impossible to hide. The shape appears very close to the original GR GT3 Concept we first saw back in January 2023.
The concepts were recently seen testing on the public roads in Los Angeles, joining previous glimpses of the GT3 car testing at the Nurburgring and Spa.
The new rear-wheel drive platform is expected to underpin the next-generation Toyota Supra too, albeit with a different exterior design and powertrain. Toyota has made it clear, despite the impending end of the A90-generation, the Supra will return and play a key role in its future – both on and off the racetrack.
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