The 10 best Toyotas ever made
No company values over-engineering as highly as Toyota – a manufacturer that's become synonymous with building cast-iron reliable cars. But are they fun? You bet they are. In amongst the seas of Corollas and Prius, you'll find a past and present catalogue of some of the most exciting driving machines ever made. These are ten of the best.
Toyota Celica GT-Four
Thanks to the car's numerous WRC successes, a Celica GT-Four in Castrol colours is one of the most famous Toyotas around. Or indeed infamous, if you're blessed to be a child of the 80s and 90s, and the controversy when Toyota got caught using an illegal turbo restrictor in 1995 leading to a year-long ban from the WRC.
That didn't detract from it being a great road car. WRC homologation meant it featured trick kit like an All-Trac All-Wheel Drive System with a centre differential and a limited-slip rear differential, an air-to-water intercooler and Super Strut Suspension that kept the tyre contact patch as big as possible when cornering. Power came from a turbocharged four-cylinder producing, in most applications, well over 200PS (147kW), and the package was completed with an aggressive-looking body.
A80 Toyota Supra
Many will tell you the Fast and Furious film franchise made the Toyota Supra. Others say it's personally responsible for turning this once great sports car into a tuning magazine cover car (and often not a very tasteful one).
But, it's all subjective. The facts are that the Supra, featuring sequential turbocharging and an active aero package, was cutting edge when it went on sale in 1993. Toyota worked hard to make this Supra lighter than its predecessor with clever use of materials like aluminium and magnesium alloy; even the carpets featured hollow fibres to reduce (surely not much) weight. It added up to a car more than 90 kg lighter than the model it replaced. Tuners don't just love the film connection; the Supra's 2JZ engine is famed for being almost unburstable – easily capable of producing double the 300PS (221kW) it had from factory.
Toyota GT86
Toyota swallowed some brave pills when it collaborated with Subaru to build a new kind of sports car that turned its nose up to chasing rivals' horsepower figures and instead focussed on one single aim – being fun.
What made it fun? A simple flat-four motor which gave the GT86 a lower centre of gravity than a Lexus LF-A supercar, rear-wheel drive, a limited-slip differential, excellent electric power steering and a short-throw (and delightfully direct) six-speed manual gearbox. This combination created a car that was as easy to slide as learning your A-B-Cs, with a traction control system that you could loosen as your confidence built. Motoring journalists loved the concept, but the wider public not so much. The GT86 was arguably a flop, failing to sell in anything like the numbers of rivals such as the Porsche Cayman and Audi TT. Nevertheless, it laid the foundation for the GR86 of today.
250 Series Toyota Land Cruiser
The Toyota Land Cruiser's indestructibility is near legendary, painting a stark contrast to the flaky build quality of Land Rovers that serve as its main competition. Unsurprisingly, it's the Toyota that tends to be the go-to choice for people who rely on their car. But it also means the Land Cruiser is often seen more like a utility vehicle rather than something you aspire to own.
The new 250 Series is different, it’s here because its stylish, retro looks make it arguably the most want-worthy Land Cruiser ever made. Objectively, though, it's still the car we know and love: incredibly well-built, almost unstoppable off-road and better than ever on road. It should appeal to trendy urbanites as much as it does to those who need the Land Cruiser's sizable abilities.
GZG50 Toyota Century
Japan's answer to a Rolls Royce, the Toyota Century is a product of a country that savours quality engineering and restrained luxury over chintzy interior finishes and rarely usable horsepower figures. It's incredibly luxurious but doesn’t shout about it.
The Century V12 motor isn't about performance – it has a relatively modest 280PS (206kW) – instead, it's all about being as smooth and silent as possible, providing a place of solitude to the Japanese dignitaries or executives it’s ferrying. The Century shows its magic in the back. Its wool upholstery, net curtains and comfortable seats are unique, and weary high flyers can stretch out by pushing their feet through a trapdoor in the back of the front passenger chair.
Toyota GR Yaris
The phrase "we'll never see a car like this again" sets this writer’s eyes rolling quicker than a politician’s promise, but in the case of the Toyota GR Yaris, I'm willing to let it slip – it's that special.
Toyota did about as comprehensive a job as you could have hoped when it homologated its supermini, fitting a complex four-wheel drive, locking differentials, lowered suspension, chassis stiffening, sticky tyres and big brakes – it even lopped a chunk off the roof to improve aerodynamics. Power comes from a punchy three-cylinder turbo engine that makes this little car devastating cross country, but with the four-wheel drive set in Gravel, it can also slide around like the best of them.
Toyota AE86
The GT86 was a breath of fresh air when it went on sale in 2012, but it was not a new concept; Toyota had done it all before with the AE86. Like its younger sibling, the AE86 wasn't interested in huge levels of power, torque or grip. It existed to do only one thing – drift. And it did that very well thanks to a revy twin-cam motor, rear-wheel drive and a standard limited-slip differential, showing a generation of new car buyers why sideways is always better.
But it could also be a very serious competition car with the right setup, and it would go on to compete in everything from rallying to road racing. It is, however, best known for being one of the founding cars of the drift scene, securing its iconic status forever.
Toyota MK3 MR2
Toyota has built three mid-engine MR2s, and choosing a favourite is largely down to taste. The original, famed for its rust, had mini supercar looks and sharp handling, while the MK2 was more of a GT with an unenviable reputation for letting go when you least expected. Funnily enough, that reputation carried through to Mk3.
But it's the latest of those three that we feature here because, with a sub-1,000kg weight and a proper open top, it bottles the spirit of a sports car better than any of its siblings. It also helps that I used to own one. Toyota's dedication to keeping the MR2 light bordered on the fanatical – it didn't even have a boot – but the result was a car that, in the right hands, could show a clean pair of heels to rivals with far more power.
Toyota FJ Cruiser
The Toyota FJ Cruiser celebrates the car that started the company's journey building some of the toughest off-roaders on the planet – the HJ. With retro touches that hark back to the classic, it emulates, the FJ combines these with modern tech that makes it much easier to live with every day.
Importantly, though, it's just as tough – if not tougher – than the old car. Huge wheel articulation helps the FJ stay planted over extreme terrain, while locking differentials, a low-range gearbox and an off-road specific traction-control system metre out the four-wheel-drive system's power exactly where it needs to go. Its six-cylinder engine is under-stressed and just as tough as the rest of the car, giving it a surprising turn of speed on the road. While the oddball looks won't be for everyone, it does mean the FJ Cruiser is one of the cheapest routes to a serious offroad rig.
Toyota 2000GT
Toyota was still finding its way as a car maker when it built the 2000GT sports car, a halo model whose stardust added lustre to the more humdrum models the manufacturer was known for. Toyota used a natural benchmark as a starting point, the Jaguar E-Type, giving its 2000GT a similar long-bonnet, stubby-rear shape and a powerful six-cylinder engine mounted at the front driving the rear wheels, with rack-and-pinion steering and disc brakes. A limited-slip differential and a five-speed manual gearbox did the rest.
Toyota made a loss on every 2000GT it made, despite it costing more than the E-Type. However, rarity (just 337 were built) means it costs ten times as much now. Toyota still produces parts for the 2000GT today, hinting at just how proud the company is of its first bona fide sports car.
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Celica GT-Four
a80 supra
gt86
250 series
Land Cruiser
gzg50
century
GR Yaris
ae86
mr2
FJ Cruiser
2000gt
