Toyota is showing off a new breed of sportscar that takes direct inspiration from its World Endurance Championship (WEC) racing efforts. The Toyota GR HV SPORTS concept may read like a jumble of alphabet letters, but the most important aspect is that it combines the thrill of a sportscar with the environmental-friendliness of an eco-car.

Though nowhere in the official material does it reference the Toyota 86, it doesn’t take an expert to see that the GR HV SPORTS shares a lot in common with Toyota’s venerable 2+2 sportscar. This can be seen in the A-pillar, doors, rear fender, and even interior. That said, the GR HV SPORTS does borrow heavily from the Toyota Gazoo Racing’s TS050 Hybrid race car, style-wise. This is seen in the LED headlights, wheels, and rear diffuser.



A new targa top design reduces the passenger count to two, but at least it does offer a “sense of freedom” seen in legendary Toyota sportscars such as the Supra and Sports 800.

Under the hood, the GR HV SPORTS swaps the Toyota 86’s 2.0-liter Boxer 4-cylinder motor for a THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System-Racing) engine. Though the power figures remain undisclosed, consideration has been made to carefully place components for balance. For example, the hybrid battery is mounted near the center of the vehicle. And at least the engine name sounds fast.

The single oddest aspect of the GR HV SPORTS has got to be the automatic gear selector. If the location of the traditional PRND is non-traditional in itself (it’s located on the center console ala racing car), the 6-speed automatic’s manual shift override maintains an H-pattern similar to that of a manual transmission car. Adding an extra dose of craziness, the starter button has migrated onto the shift knob as well.



As always, Toyota says that the GR HV SPORTS is purely a concept at this point. However, one shouldn’t be surprised that some components of this car will eventually make their way onto future production sportscars. Who knows, it could be a glimpse of what a second-generation Toyota 86 could be like.

The Toyota GR HV SPORTS Concept will be shown at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show.

Toyota GR HV SPORTS Concept Major Specifications:

• Overall Length: 4,395 mm
• Overall Width: 1,805 mm
• Overall Height: 1,280 mm
• Driveline: Front-engine, Rear-wheel Drive
• Seating: 2