Toyota FT-1: Concept To Reality

The Toyota FT-1 is a concept car that was unveiled at the North American Motor Show in 2014. 'FT' stands for Future Toyota and '1' stands for Ultimate One. Toyota has gone back to it's performance car roots with an incredible new front engine. Work on the FT-1 began nearly two years ago, Toyota has not disclosed the cost of building it's FT-1 concept, but it is noted that concept cars usually cost around $1 million to be built. The same verse was uttered again by Mr. Kevin Hunter 'If the public's response is positive then the production would be taken into consideration'. Most of the concept car makers, have the same dialogue uttered when confronted and questioned about, 'If the concept car would emerge as a reality?'



At the front, a single seater style central pontoon nose dominates the FT-1's looks. Beneath it is a grey front splitter, flanked by a pair of huge air intakes. The narrow LED headlight's blend into more vents, which appear to act as ducts to cool the front brakes. Further up the bonnet there are vents behind each rear wing to help hot air to exit from the engine, while the engine can be viewed below a glass panel in the bonnet. The roof has a double bubble shape, while the wrap around glasshouse is designed to reference the look of the old 2000GT. The car's tail is similarly sculpted, there's a small spoiler built into the shape of the tail, while a larger wing automatically rises on slender supports. The boomerang taillight's sit below a pop-up spoiler and above twin exhausts and a deep diffuser.



Mr. Kevin Hunter called the FT-1's design, 'a symbolic new chapter for the Toyota design'. The interior is just as dramatic, with a dash and center console that envelops the driver. A beautifully crafted F1 style steering wheel, lets the driver keep his hands on the wheel at all times, while a next generation head up display projects vital information onto the drivers line of sight. To ensure optimum ergonomics, most of the car's major controls are mounted onto the steering wheel.



There's not much to describe of the engine, it sits underneath the transparent engine cover, but Toyota has confirmed that it's not a hybrid, but a high-output internal combustion engine. Toyota is currently working with BMW on a joint hybrid sports car platform, but according to sources the FT-1 is not linked to that project. It is believed that to a certain extend where performance is concerned, the engine alone would actually put the FT-1 near the GTR. Post celebrations of the popular video game series 'Gran Turismo'. Toyota created a unique design of the FT-1 concept called the FT-1 VGT, which features more aggressive and race inspired bodywork similar to the GT500 machines from the GT series.



These are modern times in the automotive market and the only way to make an impression is to design the best. Toyota has done their homework quite well and created a mark in the genre of concept cars and now people are waiting for it to hit the production phase. This vehicle has not yet been officially released into the market, regarding the fact that it's done some rounds in a few motor shows. The prices haven't been disclosed, but sources from the company have stated that the main motive is to bring in the vehicle at a reasonable price, which is the same motive they've carried out for most of their cars which are in the market currently. 2016 is the year rumored for the official release, so lets hope to see this beast soon.