The long awaited Toyota/Subaru joint venture; Toyota styled, Subaru-boxer-powered rear wheel drive coupe has been shown before its official debut at the Tokyo Auto Show.

Dubbed the FT-86, it is a spiritual successor to the Corolla based AE-86 of the 1980’s.  Like the original, this example also boasts light weight and a low center of gravity.

Production is slated to begin in 2011, where the car will be manufactured by Subaru, although the complete design was done by Toyota at their ED2 design studio in France.  The car will utilize a horizontally opposed Subaru boxer 2.0L engine, with turbocharging being a likely scenario, at least optional.

While many manufacturers are still rushing into the coupe market which was shown viable by Fords 2005 Mustang, I see the FT-86 as more of a Hyundai Genesis coupe competitor than anything else.

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