Toyota Supra Makes ‘Undercover’ Debut

The highly anticipated sports car Toyota Supra made its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom. Fans of the car got to see a camouflaged Supra prototype driven on the famous hill course but will have to wait longer to see the production model.

The new Supra, a collaboration between BMW and Toyota, will be the first production Supra since it was taken out of production more than 15 years ago. Toyota is expected to debut the new Supra in the second half of 2019 but the automaker has not confirmed a production date.

After making its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, enthusiasm is running high to see the production version. Toyota has confirmed the coupe will have a straight-six gas engine and rear-wheel drive, the same as previous models.

To showcase the Supra as a true sports car, Toyota announced the Supra will replace the Camry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2019. Toyota has campaigned a Camry since 2007 and drivers such Kyle Busch are hoping to be the first to get a Supra to victory lane. Supra’s on-track debut in the NXS race at Daytona in February.

“Supra is an iconic cool car, and to have it racing in NASCAR to highlight Supra’s return speaks to how important this is,” said Busch in a press release. “I’m hoping to be the first guy to get Supra to victory lane, but I’m sure there’s a few other Toyota drivers thinking the same thing.”

Supra enthusiasts hoping to see a production version at the Goodwood Festival of Speed were mildly disappointed. The company sent its development Supra model to the festival wrapped in black, red, and white colors of Toyota Gazoo Racing and put it through limited paces for spectators on July 12.

Journalists who have been following the launch of the fifth-generation Supra expect the production model to make its debut at a major auto show later this year or early 2019.