[Video] Toyota MR2 | Future Classics | GRR
Toyota’s motorsport mojo has been back for some time, giving it wins at Le Mans, in rallying and in differing formulas around the world. Along the way of course we have been benefitting from the Gazoo Racing spin-off products like the astonishing little GR Yaris and the GR86 which debuted at last year’s Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard. All of which makes it slightly harder to understand what a shock the Toyota MR2 was when it debuted a few decades ago.
It took the not long-established supercar formula of two seats, a mid-mounted engine, rear wheel drive and manual ‘box, pared it back, and downsized it to suit us entry level enthusiasts. Even the name was simple; depending on who you ask it stands for either "mid-ship run-about 2-seater" or "mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-seater". Small, light and fun is a well proven path to iconic status amongst drivers’ cars, as Becky Evans finds out. Sure, we are fudging our own Future Classics rules a little bit here, but it was such a revelatory car we felt it needed to be covered. Without the MR2 would there have been a Lotus Elise?