Toyota has stunned the entire automotive world at the 2014 North American International Auto Show with their new concept car, the Toyota FT-1. Car enthusiasts have immediately seen it as a sign that their prayers for a new Toyota Supra have been answered, and everyone seems to be going nuts with speculation.

The video from Motor Trend above gives us an inside glimpse at the design process of the Toyota FT-1 Concept. I must say, I think the FT-1 Concept is “take your breath away” gorgeous. It’s design is unmistakably Japanese, and extremely modern, but it definitely does make some nods back to Toyota’s past as well. Looking at the FT-1’s headlights, and the way they mesh with the larger design, I can’t help but feel that the FT-1 has a strikingly similar “look on its face” as the Mk4 Toyota Supra. Also, that rear wing, when it’s up, definitely evokes the shape Supra’s rear spoiler. As a design piece, the Toyota FT-1 is an absolute masterpiece, and I really hope they change nothing about it in production form.

Having said that, we can get as excited as we want to, but the fact remains that the Toyota FT-1 is really just a design study at this point. I speculated a while back about what the new Toyota Supra should be, and here in 2014, we’ve only come as far as an outrageous, sure to be watered down concept. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t love what I’m seeing from Toyota here, but all this means is that now they really cannot afford to drop the ball.

Ideally, I’d like to see the new Supra attack the Nissan GTR, guns blazing. I want to see nothing change from the FT-1 Concept’s design, and I want to see Toyota give it the powertrain (a hybrid setup I imagine) to match its looks.

Is that too much to hope for? Maybe. But if that can’t be, then the next best thing would have the new Supra as a BMW M3 competitor with a design that is only a little bit softened from that of the FT-1 Concept. A well rounded, beautifully balanced driver’s car I could be happy with for sure.

However, and I want to make this clear, making the new Supra into something that is essentially a Nissan 370Z would be a cataclysmic let down. The Supra is a legend, and should always be a giant killer. To make it a mere sport-compact would just ruin the name, and undermine any genuine performance credibility that Toyota is seeking to regain here.

Toyota needs a halo car, something wild to dream about, not another corporate compromise. At the Detroit Auto Show, the FT-1 Concept seems to be one small step in the right direction, but we still are waiting for that giant leap.

-Article by Nick Walker