Watch a Mystery Lexus Sports Coupe Whip Around a Toyota-Owned Track
Spy video has captured footage of what could be a near-production version of the long-rumored production GR GT3 concept car from years ago.
Toyota and/or Lexus is apparently fast at work on developing a brand-new coupe sports car, according to new video captured at the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway track in Japan. Here's everything we can see, and everything else we think we can predict about the next great Toyota-Lexus sports car that should be in production by the end of the decade, if there's already prototypes running around.
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Back in 2022, Toyota showed off its GR GT3 concept car, which was a long, low sports coupe with plenty of aero and track trickery to get it to go really fast and look cool doing it. Back then, the Japanese automaker was already promising that the concept car was moving into the development stage, and we predicted it could become the next-gen Lexus RC luxury sports coupe, considering Toyota already has the GR86 and Supra, and Lexus could use some attention to make it feel special, and to replace the old RC with some sportier than the current LC coupe.
Now, a clip captured at Fuji Speedway, which Toyota owns, and posted on Twitter (X.com) seems to show a prototype of whatever that concept development has turned into, which seems to be a pre-production car testing at the track. While it doesn't match up with the GR GT3 concept exactly, it does appear as though the general size, length, and proportions have carried on in this new design.
The nose appears to have a flattened ridge-like center on the hood for the brand badge, with a large air intake and visible radiator housed below, flanked by two more triangular air inlets on either side. The headlights are thin along the flat edge of the nose and housed on the outer extremities of the hood, over the wheel arches.
The side profile reveals a long wheelbase, with fairly large overhangs ahead of and behind the wheels as well, making for a strikingly long body for a coupe, which could suggest 2+2 seating inside. The front wheel fender extends to a large box-shaped opening running ahead of the side door, likely for extensive brake cooling. There's also a relatively small opening at the lower end of the rear wheel fender, likely for additional air ducting to the rear brakes as well.
The entire rear ridge of the design over the trunk is a wide spoiler that extends from the body lines and likely houses thin taillight units. Below that is a fairly boxed-off rear end with two triangular possible openings reminiscent of the rear design of the iconic LFA sports coupe, which could have some sort of active ducting or could just be a visual nod to that past design. Finally, at the lower rear end is a large air splitter or perhaps some other form of lower rear aerodynamic wing. There's no visible exhaust sticking out, but they could just be hidden or in shadow in these images.
If the model somehow ends up as another Toyota sports car alongside the GR86 and Supra, it would likely get the same GR performance branding; if it's a Lexus, it could get the RC, LC, or LFA names, or something similar. The RC is available with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, 3.5-liter V-6, or a 5.0-liter V-8, though we'd predict a coupe of this prototype's size would strive for more than just a four-cylinder. It's unlikely Toyota or Lexus is ready to commit to a fully-electric coupe, but we could see a hybrid powertrain like with the LC.
Considering how production-intent this model on the track appears to be, we could see a new concept or even the production-ready version a couple of years or less, if not for sure by the end of the decade.
Justin Westbrook eventually began writing about new cars in college after starting an obsessive action movie blog. That developed into a career covering news, reviews, motorsports, and a further obsession with car culture and the next-gen technology and design styles that are underway, transforming the automotive industry as we know it.
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