Toyota MR2

The Toyota MR2 is a two-seat, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced by Toyota, from 1984 until July 2007 when production stopped in Japan. There are three different generations of the MR2: 1984–1989, with angular, origami-like lines, 1990–1999, which had styling that some compared to Ferrari sports cars, and 2000–2007, which somewhat resembled the Porsche Boxster. It was designed to be small, with an economical powerplant, but sporty in style and handling. Basic design elements, such as MacPherson strut front and rear suspensions and transverse-mounted inline-four engines, are common to all three generations of MR2, though each generation differs greatly from the next in particulars.
The MR2's life began in 1976 when Toyota launched a design project with the goal of producing a car which would be enjoyable to drive, yet still provide good fuel economy. Initially the purpose of the project was not to design a sports car. The actual design work began in 1979 when Akio Yoshida from Toyota's testing department started to evaluate different alternatives for engine placement and drive method. The choice was finally made to place the engine transversely in the middle of the car. The result was the first prototype in 1981, dubbed the SA-X. From its base design, the car began evolving into an actual sports car, and further prototypes were tested intensely both in Japan and in California. A significant amount of testing was performed on actual race circuits such as Willow Springs, where former Formula One driver Dan Gurney tested the car.

Toyota made its SV-3 concept car public in October 1983 at the Tokyo Motor Show, gathering a huge amount of publicity both from the press and the audience. The car, scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of 1984 in the Japanese market under the name MR2, was to become the first mass-produced mid-engined car to come from a Japanese manufacturer. In France the name was shortened to MR to avoid the similarity in pronunciation of MR2 with the French words est merdeux, meaning "is shitty".

The MR2 Mk I still enjoys a fan base to this day. Its twin cam 1600 cc engine has potential, but its power has since been surpassed. Many enthusiasts have decided to turbocharge the engine as an upgrade, while others have decided to bypass this route and simply swap the engine out entirely. Popular swaps include both the fourth-generation 4A-GE twin cam 20-valve silver and black tops, the MR2 Mk II's 3S-GTE and the BEAMS 3S-GE engines, and the supercharged 4A-GZE 16-valve engines typically found in supercharged MR2's.

The feedback for the new model was somewhat mixed - some liked its all new design concept, while the fans of the SW20 would've liked it to continue along the path of the previous model. All agreed, however, that the ZZW30 had nearly perfect handling. The ZZW30 is considered to be the best-handling MR2 in both overall limit and controllability. For example, Tiff Needell, a very experienced race driver and the former host of the BBC TV show Top Gear, praised the handling of the ZZW30. Although some complained of the relative lack of power, many owners have opted to switch out the 1ZZ-FE engine in exchange for the 192 PS 2ZZ-GE found in the USDM Celica, USDM Toyota Corolla XRS, AUDM Toyota Celica SX and ZR, AUDM Toyota Corolla Sportivo, EDM Toyota Corolla RunX and Lotus Elise .

As a farewell to the MR2, Toyota produced 1000 limited-production V-Edition cars for Japan and the UK. They are distinguished by different color wheels, titanium interior accents, minor body changes, a helical limited slip differential, and different steering wheel trim.

Also for model year 2007, the United Kingdom received 300 models in a special numbered TF300 series. A special 182 bhp turbocharged variant called the TTE Turbo was available as a dealer-installed package. This package was also available for fitting to customer MR2s.

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