Toyota GT 86 Shooting Brake Concept revealed in Australia

The Toyota GT 86 has spawned a Shooting Brake Concept, designed by Toyota Australia and built by Toyota Japan. A new GT86 model in the offing?

The Toyota GT 86 – Toyota’s ‘affordable’ sport car – has been a round for four years, so it’s perhaps surprising it’s taken this long to see a practical take on the two-seater.

In fact, it’s taken Toyota’s design team in Australia to come up with this – the Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake – a car that looks like a modern, smaller, take on the Reliant Scimitar GTE (Princess Anne drove one, don’t you know) and looks like a perfectly credible production model.

Although the Shooting Brake was conceived by Toyota’s Australian design team, Tetsuya Tada – Toyota’s design chief – was so taken with what they’d designed he took it back to Japan where Toyota’s global sports car division hand-built the car on display, a fully functioning car that’s been put through its paces on Toyota’s test track.

Toyota Australia’s Brad Cramb said:

The Toyota GT86 lends itself perfectly to a concept that expands its appeal with added versatility, while retaining its sleek and sporty coupe styling and sharp, responsive driving character.

Equally suited to weekends away as well as the track, it’s a car you could buy with your head and your heart.

Although just a concept, Tetsuya Tada said Toyota is keen to gauge reaction to the GT86 Shooting Brake Concept:

While we never say never, and I would love this concept to become a production reality, it is very much a concept that demonstrates the passion within Toyota for cars that are fun to drive, he said.

Surely this is a sensible route to expand the GT86? It certainly gets our vote.