Quote:
Originally Posted by Jdmuscle
I see the following timeline even if this happens..
2020: possibly a prototype debut (more than likely it’ll be in 2021)
2022: second almost production ready prototype
2023: production debut with an on sale date late 2023 or early 2024
This is if economy doesn’t take a down turn and everything stays normal. To be honest I still don’t see this becoming a reality although we have some confirmations of a new model in the works.
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Unfortunately, I think you're absolutely right on the timing of a new BRZ/86. The simple reason is, it's just not that important of a car to Toyota.
Toyota is a gigantic, sclerotic behemoth of a company. Despite being the largest car company on Earth, they're very conservative and cautious. They're chasing The Big Sales. Camrys. SUVs. Cars that sell in volumes of hundreds of thousands per year. They sell about 2% as many 86's as they do Camrys. Think about that. Two percent. Annual 86 revenues for them equal about a week of Camry sales.
You have to give them credit for being interested enough in niches to even make a sports car at all, let alone two (BRZ/86 and the Supra). But it's just not a high priority for them.
Even though the BRZ/86 is really a Subaru creation, Toyota is calling the shots. They're 10 times bigger than Subaru. They put up half the money for the project. They recently announced increasing their ownership stake in Subaru. To give credit where credit is due again, the whole BRZ/86 thing may not have even happened without Toyota's money. As much as I and all of us love Subaru, they might not have been able to dedicate the resources to creating the BRZ on their own.
But when you dance with an 800 lb gorilla, you're finished dancing when the gorilla is.
In general, as I've said before, the absolute rules about new cars are:
1) it always takes longer than you think,
2) it's never quite as good as you hoped, and
3) even with Japanese cars, do you really want to buy the first model year?
I think we should be happy that they've announced that there will be a new BRZ/86. Toyota could have just as easily canned it now that they have another 'halo' sports car (albeit one that's just a BMW Z4 hardtop). Unless something untoward happens, like a prolonged global recession, the car will happen. Just not that quickly.
In the meantime, let's celebrate the current BRZ for what it is. A rare offering in the car world, a simple, analog-feeling, lightweight sports car, in the spirit of the pure sports cars of the 'good old days' some of us grew up driving and that made us fall in love with cars. Opel GT. MBG. Triumph TR6 and Spitfire. Sunbeam. Fiat 124 and even 850. Karmann-Ghia. Alfa. Austin-Healy. Jensen-Healy... and others long gone.
I wanted a modern equivalent to one of those, and the only options available today are the BRZ and Miata. But the BRZ has power, speed, safety, and comfort unimaginable to drivers of those 60's/70's cars. Plus it's just
gorgeous. The next iteration will be an incremental advance on the current car, not a ground-breaking revolution. It'll have a little more power, more angular creased styling, and that's probably about it.
So let's enjoy the current car, which I think is still relevant and just as much fun today as when it was introduced in 2013 (and world's better than the 1970 and 1972 Opel GT's I used to drive back in the 70's, and which this car reminds me of). The new BRZ will arrive at some point. If you find it irresistible, buy it. Until then, this one is plenty fun for me.