Toyota Teases Mid-Engined Two-Seater Sports Car, But Is It The MR2?

With this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon commencing on January 9, Akio Toyoda, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, participated in a teaser campaign about a two-seater mid-engined sports car. Is it the revival of the MR2?

Well, that has not yet been confirmed, but if it is indeed the case, it aligns with Best Car’s patent discovery in Japan. It also aligns with one of the concept cars that Toyota unveiled at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, which is the FT-Se. The FT-Se is an electric midship two-seater sports car, but speculation in the automotive community was strong that it could be a gas-fed sports car instead.

However, if we were to stick with the mid-engined, two-seater recipe, did you know that there’s also a two-seater mid-engined GR Yaris that was used at the Super Taikyu endurance race series called the GR Yaris M concept?

Previewed at last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, the Toyota GR Yaris M concept is basically the GR Yaris we know and love, but with its engine positioned behind the rear seats. This vehicle doesn’t use the G16E-GTS 1.6-liter turbo three-cylinder of the front-engined GR Yaris. Instead, it uses a completely new 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder that’s capable of producing more than 400 horsepower, which bears the code G20E.

／／#東京オートサロン まであと「6」日
＼＼#モリゾウ が手に入れたミッドシップ2シーターの新しいクルマとは!?
果たして東京オートサロンまでにカスタムは間に合うのか？#tokyoautosalon2026@tokyoautosalon pic.twitter.com/FvfWujEEre

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (@TOYOTA_GR) January 3, 2026

Nevertheless, this is all speculation at the moment, and we’ll have to wait until January 9 to see what Toyota has in store for us with their upcoming two-seater mid-engined sports car. Whatever the case, we hope it’s a vehicle that customers will be able to purchase in the future.