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| A second Toyota FT-1 concept is being presented in Graphite gray at the Monterey Jet Center party. |
A SECOND VERSION OF THE TOYOTA FT-1 CONCEPT BODES WELL FOR EVENTUAL PRODUCTION
It’s the second coming of the Toyota FT-1.
Tonight at 5 p.m. PST, Toyota will pull the cover off of a second concept version of its highly successful FT-1 super sports car at The Jet Party at Monterey. Both versions of the FT-1 will be shown, squeezed between classic supercars and big business jets. The setting will be as lavish and every bit as spectacular as you would imagine: champagne, hors d'oeuvres, hundreds of beautiful people (and three ugly ones). Showing off both the first and second FT-1s here is a good way to gauge popular reaction to the car among people who might buy it -- and to use that popular reaction to present a case to Tokyo for the car’s production.
Production of the Toyota FT-1, you say? Well, maybe. Possibly. Who knows? No one is saying yet, but consider this: in the whole 41 years of Calty’s existence, Toyota’s top management has only ever asked for a second stamping of a concept car twice. The first was the Lexus LF LC. The second is this.
Yes, this. What, exactly is different about the second FT-1? Engine? Transmission? A more produceable set of A-pillars? No, none of that. The only thing different is… the color. Inside and out, the colors are new. That’s all? Yes, that’s all. But…
“It can really change your perception of it, the value of it, with just a simple thing like painting it a different color,” said Kevin Hunter, president of Calty, the in-house design facility where both FT-1s were made. “I’m still fascinated by that. [Changing a car’s color to get a new response] is nothing new but it’s pretty interesting in the design world how you can change the perception of something just by giving it a different color.”
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| To create a more refined, GT-like experience, Toyota trimmed the second FT-1 concept in saddle leather. |
While the original Detroit show car was overtly sporty, appealing to the supercar lust of those who saw it, by simply changing the interior from black with red accents to the second car’s goldish-yellow “saddle” shades, the car suddenly goes from pure sports car to more sporting GT. It goes from the original FT-1’s $60,000 ballpark price tag to, perhaps, something higher.
“Maybe there’s a customer who wants more premiumness out of a supercar, not the rawness of the first car,” said Lee.
If Toyota can charge more than $60K for the car, profits, and therefore production, possibilities might increase. Who knows?
The leather samples we saw really did bring the FT-1 up a class or two. The inside looked downright Bently-esque, maybe.
In the original concept, the interior was supposed to represent a “superhero’s suit,” said Lee. She mentioned a particular superhero but we don’t want to get anyone sued by DC/Marvel/Whatever Comics. So we’ll just say superhero interior. Think of the first FT-1 as Batman and this second car as Bruce Wayne (that’s our analogy, corporate lawyers, not theirs; Toyota did not say that).
So have a look and decide for yourself. Meanwhile, the world still awaits any update on a production version.
“We don’t create show cars just to create needless studies. There’s usually a reason,” said Hunter, teasing it still more.
If it does go to production, expect some of the proportions to change: the width, the wider haunches in particular, and maybe the bulbousness of that probiscous snout. But if a production car were to be made, it would still be recognizable as an FT-1.
“We create these as theater,” said Hunter. “We want it to be believable within a certain understanding so that when somebody looks at this car they can imagine it on the road. We don’t want to create space ships that look like science fiction. We try to create a balance with just the right amount of stuff to get everybody excited but it pushes the envelope that on a show car stage it looks dramatic. The width of this car and some of the proportions are certainly extreme. In an auto show environment, things tend to shrink down so we try to go a little bigger than reality. As far as production capability, we don’t worry about it [on a show car] because we’re making a concept car. There are new exciting proportions coming that the public hasn’t seen and this is part of it.”
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