Last we reported, the FT-86 G-sport Concept’s was being displayed at the Toyota Amlux display building in Tokyo. It appears that this FT-86 concept car has now been moved to another location within Tokyo – the Tokyo Mega Web, a look and ride car theme park which features all of Toyota’s offerings. The original red FT-86 concept was previously at this location, so perhaps the two concept FT-86 cars have exchanged locations.

Check INSIDE for more photos and a video.

Richard Hammond, one of the longtime hosts of the ever popular Top Gear program on BBC wrote about the FT-86 in his column today (full article HERE). The “Hamster” predicts that the Toyota FT-86 will be a massive success due to its RWD architecture, fantastic looks, and affordable price.

It seems that the FT-86 has certainly caught the interest of Hammond, as this is the second time he has written about the car in his Top Gear column. See his first column HERE.

Click here for Richard Hammond’s March 17, 2010 FT-86 article.

According to Best Car (via 7tune.com), development cost concerns have currently nixed any for an AWD transmission in Subaru’s version of the FT-86 (codename 216A). The report is that the costs have escalated to a level where its inclusion would be cost prohibitive.

Assuming this to be true, aside from a possible difference in engines, the Subaru 216A would be a mechanical copy of the FT-86. Therefore, to further distinguish the Subaru 216A from the FT-86, its styling will be reworked to be a more distinctive look, rather than merely a rebadged FT-86. According to the report, the focus for this more distinctive look concentrates on the A-pillar forward front-end design.

Follow HERE for discussions of this development.

We haven’t revisited these topics officially on our blog since the FT-86 concept was first unveiled (in Oct. 2009). For our newer readers, it should be fun to cast your votes below. And for our long-time readers, it should prove interesting to see the updated vote #’s.

Original Post:
Three of the most hotly speculated (and debated) issues on our forums so far have been the production Toyota FT-86’s pricing, weight, and what name it will carry. Toyota has given only some general guidance so far as to the price — somewhere in the $20,000 range, and has not even released any official info on what the weight of concept version is. Nor has Toyota given an indication of whether the FT-86 name will make production, or whether it will carry the “Celica” badge or even be rebranded as a Scion.

This lack of information of course makes for some fun debate and speculation, so be sure to cast your vote (and voice your opinions) in these following polls:

> Toyota FT-86 Price Poll < > Toyota FT-86 Weight — take your guesses < > FT-86 Production Name <

Toyota has released a new set of stunning wallpapers which sets the FT-86 in the same warehouse where the recent interview with the ED2 design center Senior Designer took place.

A couple of the images continue Toyota’s marketing strategy for the FT-86 concept thus far — drawing on the car maker’s successful production sports car history. The focal image of this new set of photos surrounds the FT-86 concept car with its past relatives – the Corolla AE86, the Celica, and the Supra. On paper, the FT-86 concept certainly matches up to the capabilities of these Toyota sports coupes of yore, but only time will tell if the production FT-86 actually does.

In the meantime, at the very least, the images serve as some gorgeous eye and desktop candy, so check them out HERE!

The Senior Vice President of Toyota Europe held Toyota’s news conference today at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. The discussion mostly centered around Toyota’s latest green technologies (hybrid and hydrogen powered cars) and the new Auris, but the best (or at least most exciting) was saved for last. The FT-86 concept was the last car introduced and we were on hand to capture the introduction.

You can see the VIDEO HERE.

HERE are images of the FT-86 section of the media guide being provided by Toyota at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. Although there is no groundbreaking info here, we thought we’d try to provide you with as much of the experience of being here and seeing the FT-86 as possible.

As some of you know, I am here at the 2010 Geneva show and was lucky enough to be able to spend some “alone” time (with hardly a member of the press or the public around) around the Toyota FT-86 concept. After some reflection, I can honestly say that this car has impressed me more in person than I had imagined it could. After viewing what seems like hundreds of photos of the two FT-86 concept cars that have appeared at the recent Tokyo Auto Show and Tokyo Motor Salon, from every angle imaginable, as well as tons of racing video and stills from the Gran Turismo 5 clips featuring the FT-86, I didn’t think I could possibly get this excited just by seeing the car in the flesh. But I did. And that’s what emotional and focused designs like the FT-86 does — it stirs some excitement inside you every time you look at it.

I further tried to summarize in THIS THREAD (copied below) why I think the FT-86 concept has been such a hit with all of us:

The Toyota FT-86 concept will impress you even if you’ve been here obsessing for the last few months and seen each image of the car 100 times. And I guarantee that whatever show you see it at, it will draw some of the biggest crowds of any car at the show. I’ve already seen it happening here, and the public hasn’t even been let in yet! Since I spent quite some time at the display I can tell you that I saw many many people just stop in their tracks when this thing comes into their view… I know I did when I first spotted it.

I can see why — it’s an eye catching butt-monkey red (wouldn’t you hesitate if you saw something the color of a baboon’s behind ), but beyond that it’s something fresh and unique in today’s automotive landscape. No large mainstream manufacturer is building small and lightweight sports cars currently, much less one with this stunning a design. Even here at a European auto show where there are proportionally more compact cars (Citroen, Fiat, etc.) than at an American auto show, none have the pure sports car look and design philosophy as the Ft-86. The European-only sporty compact cars tend to be in more utilitarian forms, such as hatchbacks and shooting break designs. So the FT-86 concept stands out here in a crowd of ever-larger sedans and “sports” coupes, bland “green” cars, and utilitarian compact cars.