Friday 1st March 2013

Toyota GT-86 Convertible: Revealed (sort of)

First pictures of FT-86 Open concept - i.e. the rag-top GT-86 with added trinketry - come to light

---

This is the car that will make it to production, in near-unaltered form, as the GT-86 Convertible. For now, though, it’s still officially a concept car called the FT-86 Open.

Drop-top GT-86 will look like this. Almost.

Our first look at the droptop GT-86 came when Toyota released a sketch of the new car a few weeks ago. Since then, details have been thin on the ground, but we know the FT-86 Open concept will be brought along to Geneva next week so that we can poke around it in the flesh. The production car will, obviously, lose some of the glitz – that white interior with its yellow carpets, for example, probably won’t make the cut. We know it’ll be a 2+2, though, just like the coupe, which will make it somewhat unique in its price bracket. And it’s a pretty safe bet that it’ll get the same 200hp 2.0-litre boxer engine as the coupe too.

There is that thorny issue of price, though. Some pre-launch murmurings have suggested that by the time the GT-86 ’vert hits the shelves it'll cost a stonking £5,000 more than the hard top. Whether that’ll be the reality is subject to debate, but if it is, it might prove a tough pill to swallow.

[Denyo]

I really hope that a)there isn't that price hike, b)handling traits of coupe remain and c)those carpets never make production.

I think that looks stunning.