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Toyota, ahead of the upcoming Tokyo auto salon, has revealed a road-going version of its Le Mans almost-winning TS050 racing car, complete with 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 engine and hybrid drive to all four wheels.
It's called the GR Super Sports Concept, and in that name is both a clue to its production future (none, sadly - it's a concept) and the reason it exists - GR, or Gazoo Racing.
Gazoo is Toyota's in-house racing arm, and has just lent its name to the newly-launched 200hp Yaris GRMN hot hatch, and its appearance on the Super Sports Concept shows, clearly, that Toyota is looking for further opportunities to make sporting, on-road, cars. The new Supra, for instance...
The engine and hybrid system combined pump out 735kW, or near-as-dammit 1,000hp, while its learn-burn engine tech suggests that it would well take the accolade of the most fuel efficient hypercar yet seen.
Presenting the car, Gazoo Racing Company president Shigeki Tomoyama said the concept is the starting point for Toyota's plan to develop sports cars from active race cars. "Rather than developing production cars into sports cars, we aim to work out how to incorporate the know-how developed through races and rallies into production cars," Mr Tomoyama said. "Although it will be some time before you all have the opportunity to get behind the wheel, I hope that the GR Super Sport Concept will give you a taste of what we aim to achieve with our next-generation sports cars."
If nothing else, the concept underlines the fact that Toyota seems committed to the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans, in spite of the recent departures of Porsche, Audi, and Nissan. The Japanese giant is keen on the marketing benefits of racing with a hybrid, as well as using it as a test-bed for future tech.
Indeed, Tomoyama even sees a connection between the Super Sports Concept and the wacky, autonomous e-Pallette concept unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. "If the e-Palette Concept is the next generation of the horse-drawn carriage, the GR Super Sport Concept would be the polar opposite as the next-generation racehorse. Its appeal is more personal, like that of a much-loved horse to its owner. Despite the differences between the two concept models, both are electrified vehicles equipped with the latest IT technologies and are set to become safe and environmentally friendly connected cars.
"Even as electrification and IT technologies accelerate, the availability of different types of cars, including polar opposite models like the GR Super Sport Concept and the e-Palette Concept, means that they will never become a commodity. Furthermore, it is an unchanging fact that people want to travel freely, access distant places, and to get there quicker than everyone else in attractive vehicles. The feelings that one has for a car that can do all this are rich and heart-pounding."
Mr Tomoyama referred to a statement late last year by Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda, who said he was "strongly determined to make sure that cars will be fun for the next 100 years. Toyota Gazoo Racing aims to continue making exciting cars to bring smiles to our customers' faces and to contribute to the future of the automobile industry," he said.