Might Toyota’s FT-1 Be the New Supra?

Ever since the FT-1 concept was debuted earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, many of the world’s automotive media have been taken with the roadster that resembles the Tim Burton-era Batmobile.

We wrote about it when it came out, of course, for the same reason that it dominated most slideshows and web page displays: it’s an outrageously attention-seeking car. Looking at it from a three-quarter view, it’s hard to imagine a front end with more swoops, swirls, slices and waves. While many cars opt for streamlined body lines because they create as little air drag as possible, an FT-1 in a wind tunnel would be like dropping a cat into water.

Because Toyota billed it as a concept vehicle only, the media had fun wondering how it would influence other production models, or even decried it as flagrant window-dressing with no chance for any future relation to the sensible, fuel-efficient designs Toyota favors.

All of that was stirred up this weekend as Internet media producers began spreading the story that the FT-1 maybe, might be, perhaps, possibly, a confirmed version of the new Toyota Supra. Jalopnik published a brief account of their attempt over the weekend to figure out where the story started, what Toyota’s response is, and whether the story might be true (companies aren’t always prepared to confirm stories even when they are true, after all).

One good thing about a rumor flurry like this is that, whatever the truth is, a story gets people talking, gets companies thinking, and can actually have an impact on production models. Lest we forget, the word concept means abstract idea or general notion, the point of which is that nothing is certain and companies can actually be incredibly open to public sentiment because it’s the public who buys cars.

So what do you think? Would the FT-1 make a good Supra, or should it be its own model? Should it compete with the Corvettes of the world, or the Lotus Elites? Let us know what you think and who knows, Toyota itself might be listening.