Jada Toys 1:24 Toyota FT-1 concept

The latest hype is the return of the Toyota Supra inspired by the FT-1 concept car shown in 2014, and while the wait is long and at the time of this article only the race car has been shown at Geneva the hype is still there.  To get on the action Jada Toys released a replica of the concept car for their new Tokyo Torque line in1:24, 1:32, and 1:55 scale ranges, but the best one to get is the larger-scale 1:24.  Let’s take a look:

Ever since the Supra was discontinued in 2001 (1998 for the U.S.) the hope of a future Supra has been on the minds of many Toyota enthusiasts, especially after the last-generation Supra made important headways in the Fast and Furious film franchise.  Many ideas have been toyed, but none would make to even the concept car stage until 2014 when the FT-1 arrived.  The car combines styling inspirations from the Supra, 2000GT, and Celica but flows in a more F-1 inspired design with plenty of wild wings, scoops, and edges to be seen and all of it works in perfect harmony.  Taking the design and making it into a production car would result in some compromises, but luckily they do have a new partnership to make it happen: BMW as the new Supra will share the same platform with the next Z4, so expect to see the return of the twin-turbo I-6 soon!  As for this concept car it’s a mixed bag of styling elements wrapped in a electric golf cart motor underneath as it has no engine despite the engine cover on the hood.

Jada Toys offers four colors of this model including the original red of the concept car, but I felt the black better covers up the gaps and flows gracefully along the lines of this car.  The front has a pointed nose like an F-1 car that splits up the lower carbon fiber chin spoiler with twin electric fans visible in the side nostrils.  Headlights flow out to touch the center and inside you can see the detailed tri-lenses in separate plastic lenses (nice job, Jada Toys!) before flowing down to vertical scoops, and as you can see the black really shows off all the creases and curves in a smooth, liquid motion.  The sides show off flared fenders with front fender vents after the rear wheels and a larger vent just ahead of the rear wheels, exterior mirrors that come off the door and track inward towards the A-pillar, and gray multi-spoke wheels with center cap lug nut and detailed red brake calipers and slotted rotors just behind.

At the rear the tail kicks up with a ducktail rear spoiler and as an added bonus on the 1:24 the rear spoiler retracts out of the body with detailed silver bracket posts, while the red taillights flow into the vertical rear vents, exhausts come out of the rear bumper, and the rear diffuser has the central LED taillight and reverse lamp combo light.  Now there is no opening hood as the real concept does not have an engine, but there is enough detailing to the faux engine just behind the clear glass under the hood to suggest that it could use the Lexus DOHC V8 from the F-sport line through a seven-speed automated manual transmission with paddle shifters, though with a new BMW partnership those specs have changed.  As usual the base is smooth and offers little of details for the sake of aerodynamics.  

The interior has seating for two and would offer two more in the rear though that would be a tight fit; the seats have that race car look with bolsters and thin padding.  The door panels have a nice carbon fiber pattern design that flows across the door, while the passenger gets a glove box, and additional storage area on the center console right next to six holes on the console tunnel.  The real amazing part is the driver-oriented fighter-jet dashboard layout where the dashboard wraps around the driver, gauges are off to the sides under the silver trim with the speedo and tachometer viewed in the clear glass display that allows visible instruments while not obstructing forward visibility, and Jada did a great job with the separate glass gauge piece.  The two-spoke steering wheel has that race car design with its smaller size, integrated paddle shifters, and controls for starting the car to activating several commands, while the chrome pedals have a cool drilled pattern on them.

This is one amazing car and one of the best by Jada Toys.  It never has any faults, nor does it look blocky from some angles (a characteristic of other Jada Toys castings), and it all works fine.  The 1:32 is a nice alternative even though the rear wing is fixed in the up position, but as for the 1:55 skip that one as it lacks the fine, crisp detailing of the real car and the larger scale models.  Eventually expect production Supra replica’s to appear in a few years, but for the time being this Jada Toys 1:32 scale version of the FT-1 concept car is a great placeholder as we wait for the Supra’s revival.