Topless Toyota FT-86 Shown With it Roof Up Via Patent Papers

The Toyota GT-86 is quite successful in its styling, and while some may criticize bits of it at a time, the consensus seems to be that it looks good. This poses a challenge for the engineers behind the car, when turning the coupe into the FT-86, which is the soft-top convertible version.

Keep in mind that aside from the roof having to be strong, durable, not leak and not take up much space in the trunk, it must also not upset the car's lines when it's deployed.

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Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan Jointly Recall 3.4 Million Cars Worldwide Over Airbag Issue

In this day and age, automakers share a number of common components, which is beneficial in terms of pushing down costs and development times, but can also be troublesome when something goes wrong, as is the case of a faulty air bag from Japanese manufacturer Takata Corp., which is used by Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan.

Overall, the four Japanese carmakers and their subsidiaries are recalling 3.4 million vehicles worldwide for the same issue that stems from improperly manufactured propellant wafers that could cause the airbag inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash.

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Toyota Highlander Driver Demolishes Garage, Cries "Unintended Acceleration", But Is It?

Given all the attention Toyota has received for the unintended acceleration issues, it's not surprising that it's one of the first things that cross the minds of drivers whenever they're involved in a strange and usually, hard to explain, accident or incident. Sometimes they are right, but sometimes they are wrong.

A female driver of a relatively new Toyota Highlander posted a video of a rather bizarre incident on YouTube a couple of months back (on January 21, to be precise), though, this is the first time we've seen it, and judging from the low viewer counter, most likely the same applies to you too.

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Toyota Questions Polk’s Statistics, Says Corolla Beat Focus as World’s Best-Selling Car

Toyota says its Corolla compact car was the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2012, not the Ford Focus, as the U.S. carmaker said yesterday citing R.L. Polk & Co.’s global new vehicle registration data for the full-year 2012.

Ford said it sold 1.02 million Focus vehicles last year topping the Toyota Corolla, which was attributed sales of 872,774 units. The Japanese carmaker’s was quick to contradict its rival.

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Daihatsu Baptizes the Toyota Prius V the New Mebius in Japan

Daihatsu, the Japanese automaker controlled by Toyota, has released a rebadged version of the Prius V (sold as the Prius α in Japan) for the domestic market. Called the Daihatsu Mebius, it is the second Toyota hybrid model rebadged as a Daihatsu, following the Camry hybrid’s transformation into the Daihatsu Altis. Read more »

Toyota's April 1st Return to F1 with Lexus Keeping the Foolery Alive?

One thing you should know about April Fool's Day hoaxes, is to always check out the date of reports in the following days to make sure you don't fall victim to a false story, as not all sites are clear about that.

The story on the return of Toyota to F1 under the Lexus banner from the crew at the ClubLexus is one such example, as there may not be a date on the landing page, but if you check out the comments and head to the news homepage, you'll see the date: April 1, 2013.

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Toyota UK Puts a Price Tag on PSA-Sourced Proace Van

After it tried to trick us on April 1 with the "touring van championship" versions of the Proace, Toyota had now released pricing details on its latest effort in the mid-size van segment. The new Proace will go on sale in the United Kingdom on July 1, with prices starting from £22,300 for the base Panel Van and rising to £27,800 for the passenger Crew Van model. Read more »

Scion May Move More Upmarket, Abandon its Youth-Oriented Approach

The Scion brand, a Toyota creation for the North American market, has been struggling in recent years, with lackluster sales and an ageing model lineup. Now, in the face of front-wheel drive, premium cars from Europe, officials are mulling a rethink of the entire brand, which may move upmarket and fight vehicles like Mercedes' CLA, or the Audi A3.

It seems that there is also quite a bit of pressure involved, as Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America stated to Autonews: "Everybody is looking at what direction Scion should go [...] We have to take a real hard look at what the future of the industry looks like strategically, and where we want Scion to play."

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Toyota Prepares Proace Van for April Fool's Day Touring Van Championship

Another carmaker with a sense of humor today is Toyota's UK division that announced it will enter its new Proace van in the newly-established British Touring Van Championship. The Japanese carmaker said three UK independent touring car teams have already signed up to use the new race-prepped Proace vans. Read more »

Toyota Wants to Follow in VW Group's Footsteps and Build its Own MQB Modular Platform

Nowadays, the automotive industry is driven mainly by profits and the pursuit of higher sales figures. The character a car and its individuality are placed on the side, in an effort to have more of them to sell and cover as many niches as possible.

Volkswagen is doing it and doing it well, so is Ford and now even Peugeot is taking steps to cut costs considerably with their new EMP2 platform. They do it by sharing as many bits as they can in and among their cars, to minimize development and manufacturing costs. Toyota is the next manufacturer to adopt this theme.

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Toyota Officially Unwraps All-New 2014 Highlander Crossover with Up to 8-Seats

The all-new third-generation 2014 Toyota Highlander was finally revealed today at the 2013 New York Auto Show.

In his presentation speech, Toyota Group USA Vice President Bill Fay pointed out that the brand heard current owners of the mid-size crossover and made the appropriate changes for its replacement, which is slightly bigger and roomier, both for passengers and their luggage, features improved handling and a more premium interior.

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Here's the New 2014 Toyota Highlander 7-Seater Crossover

After more teasers than we care to mention, official pictures of the new generation of the Toyota Highlander surfaced online today, just hours before the Japanese carmaker performs its song and dance at the New York Auto Show.

The new 2014 Highlander features a revised styling inside and out, with some hints of Venza-inspiration here and there.

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2014 Toyota Highlander Sneak Peek Ahead of New York Auto Show [Updated]

After telling us that it will stage the world debut of the new generation Highlander at the 2013 New York International Auto Show on March 27, Toyota has now issued the first teaser of its three-row crossover. Read more »

Toyota Releases 2013 Corolla LE and S Special Edition Models Priced at $20,550

With the 2014 Corolla just around the corner, Toyota is applying some equipment makeup to its 2013 model by launching two special editions, the luxury-oriented Corolla LE and the sportier Corolla S. Both bring extra standard features and are aimed at different categories of customers. Read more »

New Toyota GT86 Cup Edition gets Racing Stripes, Alcantara Interior and a VIP Ticket to the 'Ring

Even though the bad weather conditions and the snow on certain parts of the Nürburgring circuit led to the cancelation of the of the season opener of the VLN Endurance Championship on March 23, Toyota is celebrating its participation at the event with the release of the limited run GT86 Cup Edition. Read more »

New Renault Clio RS 200 Pitted Against Toyota GT86

This is one of the first proper reviews of the new Renault Clio RS 200 EDC, and it comes courtesy of Autocar magazine, which pitted it against the Toyota GT86, just to spice things up a bit. Reviewer Steve Sutcliffe drives the new Clio RS, and praises it for its composed handling and very high levels of grip, as well as its refinement and comfort levels. Read more »

This Is Not Your Usual Swimsuit Model Driven in a Supercar Video [NSFW]

Former playmate Jessica Barton is also a drag racing enthusiast who loves driving fast cars on the strip. She used to own a Toyota Supra Mk4 modified for drag racing by Titan Motorsport that developed in excess of 1,100 horsepower. Unfortunately for her and the $100,000 she invested in parts, the car was stolen at the end of last year with only a few bodywork components found days later. Read more »