Toyota — a famously serious company — decided right now was a good time to play a little prank on the automotive world, and I’m miffed. Earlier this week, Toyota Gazoo Racing put out a teaser on social media that claimed the company was going to unveil a “mid-engine, two-seater car” at the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon. This led, as you may have imagined, to a lot of speculation online about the possible return of the legendary MR2. Unfortunately, what we got was anything but.
Instead of a sleek little sports car, Gazoo Racing decided what we all really needed was a customized Daihatsu Kei truck. To make things even more bizarre, it was one of two customized Daihatsu Kei trucks on display as part of some strange boxing rivalry gimmick between Gazoo Racing and Daihatsu, according to Road & Track. Apparently, the entire Toyota booth was themed around inter-company rivalries. No, I don’t get it either.
Executives reportedly described the Gazoo Racing build as something akin to a rally car, while the Daihatsu is meant more to showcase how far engineers were able to push the limits of a humble Kei truck. I know it’s incredibly disappointing that neither of these are MR2 revival, but you gotta admit, they’re cool in their own right. Though I do feel like Toyota shot itself in the foot a bit by teasing something MR2-ish, because anything short of that would have been a disappointment.
Still some hope… maybe
There’s still some hope Toyota could pull the sheets off an MR2 revival at the Auto Salon before all is said and done, according to R&T. Akio Toyoda, seen recently going all MAGA on everyone’s asses, said the event would be a “three-round fight. The first two are those trucks and the announcement of a new division of Toyota racing. The third “round” should be revealed rather soon, and that could hopefully be the MR2. However, as Road & Track points out, the silhouette teaser image looks a lot like a NASCAR Camry than a road car, so we might all just be SOL.
Still, I think the rumor mill is going to continue to churn until some sort of MR2 shows up. Toyota is clearly cooking up something. I mean, it unveiled a mid-engined GR Yaris concept at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, and, as R&T reports, Toyota recently applied for an “MR2” trademark filing. Of course, that doesn’t mean a new MR2 is coming for certain. Automakers file name trademarks all the time, but hope is so important these days, so I’ll just keep on praying.
You can check out the full press conference to share in everyone’s disappointment here.
