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Toyota’s iconic coupe, the 86, has been transformed into a dramatic 2-door “Shooting Brake” concept. In a similar fashion to the Transformers movie, the “Shooting Brake” evolved from a sports car into a classic coupe characterised by an elongated roof contour line. The prototype, which adds more practical styling to the rear of the 86, was revealed in Sydney by Toyota 86 global Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada.
The Aussie-designed concept is already garnering a huge fan base across the globe, but there’s very little likelihood that it will go into mass production. Tada-san said he was inspired to support the project when shown a one-quarter scale clay model during a visit to Australia in November 2014.
“I was totally surprised, and I liked it so much I arranged for my expert takumi prototype craftsmen to hand-build the ‘Shooting Brake’ concept based on the Australian design. The concept car is a fully functional, driveable vehicle that has been put through its paces on Toyota test tracks,” he said.
Toyota Australia Divisional Manager National Marketing Brad Cramb said he and his team had to exercise restraint on the drawing board.
“Like kids in a lolly shop, we thought about restyling more of the car; however, like a good parent saying ‘no’ to too many sweets, we made the conscious decision to keep as much of the original 86 as possible, only changing what was absolutely necessary,” he said.
“The silhouette is still sporty, taut and energetic, but it’s more practical as it allows the roof to be used to carry surfboards, bikes or storage pods for a weekend away while the larger opening of the new boot enables much easier loading. As a result, we have expanded the appeal of the coupe while intentionally retaining the purity of the now-iconic 86 style,” Cramb added.
The 86 ‘Shooting Brake’ retains the wheelbase and front end design of the regular coupe, but the roof and rear quarter have been modified to enable a more spacious and elongated trunk. This results into improved luggage space and generous headroom for rear passengers. Although the Melbourne-based Toyota design team came up with the striking design, it maintains this is purely a one-off concept car that will never reach production.
