Will FT-86 Get Built At All?
Canadian Auto Press

It appears Toyota has a decision to make. Label the production version of the new FT-86 concept a Toyota or Scion, resurrecting the Celica nameplate for the former or creating a new tC with respect to the latter.

2009 Toyota FT 86 Concept

Toyota is not talking production at all, of course, although everyone else in the industry is speculating wildly, due to the car, shown at the Tokyo Motor Show recently, being so attractively styled and appearing so production-ready.

So what will Toyota do? Current speculation has the sporty coupe becoming a Celica in its home market and other global markets where Scion is not sold, and a tC in the US and now Canada, the latter where the youth-oriented brand will soon be available. This said, Toyota is probably doing some speculating on its own, contemplating just how many more FT-86s it would sell via its larger more recognized Toyota distribution network in North America under the revered Celica nameplate.

Whichever choice Toyota makes, customers will most likely be ok with the fact that the FT-86 is not front-wheel drive, as has been the case with all tC models and the last couple decades of Celicas (it was initially a rear-drive model from 1970 to 1985), before the car was dropped in its home market four years ago. A short run of mid-90s all-wheel drive ST165 GT-Four (Japan) Turbo All-Track Celica’s should be mentioned too, and are now extremely collectible. A previous Celica competitor, Hyundai’s Tiburon, was recently replaced by a rear-drive model, the Genesis Coupe, and enthusiast customers have embraced the much sportier new car.

Only time will tell, of course. First, will Toyota build the gorgeous little coupe at a time when budget restraints are causing many automakers to put a cap on potentially frivolous projects, and then second, if it gets the green light (something plausible at Toyota given the automaker’s President Akio Toyoda stating the company needs more exciting cars in its lineup), what it will be called.