Credit: Toyota

There’s some Toyota news today that doesn’t involve the chairman wearing a MAGA hat. The Japanese automaker evidently decided it’s been too long since it flexed its engineering chops on something with two doors and plenty of power, so it has rectified that situation with a new flagship coupe for its Gazoo Racing sporty sub-brand. Meet the GR GT, which looks set to go on sale toward the end of next year.

The Camry-esque look at the front, and to an extent the rear, came second to the GR GT’s aerodynamics, which is the opposite way to how Toyota usually styles its cars. It’s built around a highly rigid aluminum frame—Toyota’s first, apparently—with carbon fiber for the hood, roof, and some other body panels to minimize weight. The automaker says that lowering the car’s center of gravity was a top priority, and weight balance and distribution also help explain the transaxle layout, where the car’s transmission is behind the cockpit and between the rear wheels.

That transaxle transmission will be an eight-speed automatic that uses a wet clutch instead of a torque converter and into which the car’s hybrid motor is integrated. Power from the 4.0 L twin-turbo V8 and the hybrid system should be a combined 641 hp (478 kW) and 626 lb-ft (850 Nm). Despite the aluminum frame and use of composites, the GT GR is no featherweight; it will weigh as much as 3,858 lb (1,750 kg). The V8 is a new design with a short stroke, a hot-V configuration for the turbochargers, and dry sump lubrication.

The one with the gigantic rear wing is the GR GT3, which will replace the now-aging Lexus RC F GT3, which first raced in 2017. Unlike the prototypes that race in IMSA’s GTP and the World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar category—in Toyota’s case, the GR010 Hybrid—GT3 cars are based on production coupes and need to be accessible to amateur drivers as well as factory pros. The GR GT3 does without the road car’s hybrid system, which is not allowed in GT3 racing. But don’t expect to see the car until the 2027 racing season.

A new Lexus LFA

The hand-built, V10-powered Lexus LFA might have been namechecked as inspiration for the GR GT, but there will be a new Lexus LFA, too. Or at least a concept of one, which was first seen earlier this year at Monterey Car Week. Developed alongside the GR GT and GR GT3, the new LFA does without that raucous-sounding V8. Instead, it will be a battery electric vehicle.

The LFA is a little shorter and slightly wider than the GR GT, but the two coupes share the same wheelbase and height, which I’ll admit has me wondering where Lexus will package all the batteries the vehicle will surely require. This concept appears far further from production than the GR GT, however, and the automaker is not sharing any technical specifications yet.