It makes sense, doesn’t it? Toyota and Mazda, two companies with close business ties that are both famed for their lightweight, rear-wheel-drive, manual sports cars, are set to collaborate. That’s the story according to reports from Japanese magazine Best Car.
Though the two brands have yet to confirm or deny the tie-up, the next Toyota GR86 and the next Mazda MX-5 will reportedly be all but siblings (goodbye Subaru BRZ), built on the same platform and in the same factory. It might sound ungrateful, but I’m nervous of this amalgamation.
Both model lines were up to this point facing an uncertain future. While the MX-5 had been given a stay of execution for the next couple of years, it is now over ten years old. Likewise the GR86, which in spite of only launching in 2022, is a development of the GT86’s platform that was first introduced in 2012. That explains its market withdrawal due to that platform no longer being compliant with new European crash safety standards.
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