Next-gen Toyota MR2 imagined

The chances of a born-again mid-engined Toyota MR2 sports car returning to showrooms any time soon are extremely low – but not impossible.

Toyota’s European vice-president Matt Harrison last year told Autocar a new MR2 was “not a priority” as the Japanese car-maker was knee-deep developing the new Toyota GR 86.

But given the GR 86’s development process is now all but complete, is the MR2 project back on track and could it emulate the solid production run (for a performance car) of the original between 1984 and 2007?

Our sources have also suggested an MR2 can’t be ruled out at this stage and this futuristic Toyota MR2 computer rendering created by Rain Prisk shows how the compact sports car could look if it was re-introduced for the modern era.

One of the possibilities for the reincarnated MR2 is that it could become Toyota’s first-ever all-electric sports car. With Toyota’s recent embracing of all things EV, such a development is not out of the question.

If Toyota does decide to deliver an electric ‘Mister2’ it would almost certainly be based on Toyota’s new scalable EV platform architecture (e-TNGA), which is set to underpin 15 global battery-electric vehicles by 2025, the first of which is the bZ4X.

While heavy EV batteries may go against the grain of the original MR2’s lightweight ethos, it’s not impossible to imagine a compact electric sports car offering enough performance and range without costing the earth or weighing two tonnes – particularly when Toyota’s solid-state battery tech improves.

Of course nothing has been officially announced by Toyota around a reborn MR2, but the company’s performance car director, Tetsuya Tada, is on record as saying the Japanese auto giant will offer ‘three brothers’ in its modern sports car line-up, leaving room for one more hottie to join the GR 86 and GR Supra.

The Celica name has also been bandied about as the third pillar in Toyota’s sports car assault and Toyota has already dabbled with the idea of a Mazda MX-5 roadster rival in the form of the cheeky 2015 S-FR concept.

Another possibility for Toyota’s next sports car – especially if it’s an EV – is to leverage its new bZ naming convention first seen on the bZ4X electric SUV revealed this week. If that happens, the MR2 and Celica names would be ditched in favour of something like the Toytoa bZMr or bZ2.

As global demand for EVs continues to increase with more cities (and some countries) enacting laws to reduce and even ban combustion-powered vehicles in the near future, more and more mainstream car-makers are developing high-performance EV hero models and sports cars, including Kia and Hyundai.

Should Toyota resurrect the MR2 sports car, in spirit if not in name? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Image: Computer rendering by Rain Prisk