Or is it a super-hot Scion FR-S? It’s a little unclear, as the sleuths at Autoguide (who originally uncovered the drawings) note that Toyota (or as the youths call it, “Scion”) filed the Japanese patent, but the application listed Fuji Heavy Industries, parent company of Subaru, as the creator. All we know is, it’s something that needs to happen right now.
And since they both have a hand in the Toyobaru Twins, I’m not sure it matters.
But here’s where things get weird. Those with any semblance of a functioning memory still left (not me, don’t worry) will notice that this exactly, and I mean exactly, like the Subaru STI Performance Concept from earlier this year. Just look at it:
It’s damn-near spot on, save for the logos. So what gives?
Well, filing a patent drawing, historically, means pretty much bupkis. And, as Autoguide notes, the Japanese patent office just approved these drawings earlier this month, not that Toyota filed them earlier this month. So maybe they’ve been knocking around since the concept debuted earlier this year. Maybe Toyota just filed the design as a thought exercise. Maybe they just want to tease us.
Maybe Subaru and Toyota are actually making a faster BRZ/FR-S, something we’ve all asked about for years. Maybe they’re not. Maybe they just like the way the lines look, thought it was pretty, and decided to share it with the Japanese government because patent clerks are notorious aesthetes.
Maybe it’s not an FR-S/BRZ at all. Maybe it’s an airplane. Maybe it’s a moon rocket. Maybe it’s a hippopotamus that can breathe soup. Maybe all of our dreams will come true. Maybe it’s real. Maybe it’s not. Maybe this is a development mule.
Maybe we’re going crazy waiting for those two to make this thing already.
Maybe.
Contact the author at ballaban@jalopnik.com.
Public PGP key
PGP fingerprint: 0D03 F37B 4C96 021E 4292 7B12 E080 0D0B 5968 F14E