[MR2fan]

Press release:

We just caught Toyota engineers testing a prototype for the Toyota/Subaru joint-venture coupe on the Nürburgring, giving us a new real-world taste of the eagerly-awaited two-door. How much this prototype represents Toyota's production-intent coupe is a little cloudy at this point. It is definitely more advanced than the Subaru-themed coupe mules spied more than a year ago, and hints of Toyota's recently-released FT-86 concept can be imagined behind the camouflage. The headlights look like they could be merely functional placeholders for more sexy headlamps to be applied later, but they also seem to integrate quite well into the bodywork visible here. The same can be said for the tail-lights which fail to capture the svelte sexiness of the FT-86 concept.

It's rare for a car company to create two-stages of mules--it usually goes from the initial mule straight to a confirmation prototype--but it looks like this prototype may still have a little of the Island of Dr. Moreau treatment. At least we hope so. If the visible elements on this latest coupe prototype are indicative of the final design, Toyota will have raised the public's expectations with the FT-86 only to bring everyone crashing down to a more mundane reality.