If it seems a while ago that BMW and Toyota agreed to
collaborate on a sports car
, that's because it was: first details emerged back in July 2012. There was discussion of "exploring possibilities for further cooperation on... future vehicle architectures - for a sports car, for example" from BMW and the motoring world grew rather excited.
Long bonnet, short rear overhang? Check!
Nearly four years later, here's the first look at BMW's next sports car. It's important to remember that the Toyota and BMW models will not be rebadged versions of identical cars, instead each individual product using the expertise of each manufacturer. So don't expect a future Supra to look like this! But if it could look like an
FT-1
Likely to be called the Z5, this car is expected to replace the current Z4 in 2018. For now it's worth noting the fabric roof as opposed to the current car's hardtop, which has to be good news from a weight perspective. Let's hope it makes production with a rear screen though... Proportionally it's very similar to the BMW Z cars right back to the Z1 with a long bonnet, a driver sat on the rear axle and a short rear overhang. If anything this car looks like the wheels could be further out but that could be a trick of the disguise.
Much like the 3 Series seen the other week, BMW is giving away little about the rear of the Z5 with this prototype. Those round lights appear to be poking out of larger units and there's a hint of Honda S2000 to it but that's about it for now!
Certainly there will be more details emerging about the Z5 and a Toyota sports car over the coming months, but now seems a good time to speculate on the best bits from each model range that could make it to the final cars. A car that uses BMW's know-how with carbon fibre, the knowledge of both with hybrid systems and Toyota's experience with the GT86 could be great. Watch this space!
[Images: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien]