Son of Supra

By: editors at Edmunds.com

Looking for a high-profile sports car to polish its image, Toyota is finishing up development of a Supra successor, code-named project 395.

When you think of exciting Toyota sports cars, one you can't ignore is the lovely 2000 GT featured in the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. The new front-engine, rear-drive sports car will even borrow subtle styling cues from that icon.

Our sources suggest Toyota is looking at two distinct versions for production. One will use a 3.5-liter development of the new V6 (introduced in the 2006 Lexus GS 300), making 300 horsepower. The second, higher-intensity model could use the company's 4.3-liter V8, tweaked to give about 350 hp.

Styling features a long front deck and short rear, much like the Mercedes-Benz SLK, BMW Z4 and Honda S2000 that the new Toyota will compete against. We expect it will employ a conventional folding soft top.

Pricing will likely run close to $30,000 for the V6 (to rustle 350Z feathers) and into the low-$40,000 range for the V8. The Supra spirit will rise again!