Report: Toyota GT86 offered in stripped down RC flavor... in Japan

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Budget, Performance, Etc., Japan, Toyota

It's getting harder and harder to purchase a genuine stripped down vehicle these days. Manufacturers have discovered that it's both cheaper and easier to offer every model with a surprisingly high level of content rather than build multiple variations on the same theme. That's why tricks like power locks and windows are all but ubiquitous, even on bargain-basement models.

Not so in Japan. Toyota is offering buyers a stripper version of the company's new GT86 sports coupe. The vehicle comes as a blank canvas just waiting for your personal touch. Outside, the stock 17-inch alloy wheels are replaced with 16-inch steelies, and the bumpers, side mirrors and door handles all arrive unpainted. Don't expect to find any fog lights, either.

Indoors, niceties like a stereo, air conditioning and even trim work around the steering wheel and shifter are nowhere to be found. Toyota even went so far as to ditch the plastic intake cover under the hood. The vehicle doesn't come with a limited-slip rear differential, but the sacrifice seems worth it to us. For starters, the GT-86 RC carries a price tag of 1.9 million Yen, or $24,601 at current conversion rates. That's significantly less than the standard model. Then there's the fact that the RC weighs nearly 100 pounds less than the base GT-86.

Sadly, we doubt either Scion or Subaru will offer a similarly stripped-down version of their respective FR-S or BRZ models, though history disagrees with us. Scion did, in fact, offer a stripper version of the tC back in 2007 called the tC Spec Package.

Toyota GT86 offered in stripped down RC flavor... in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/02/09/toyota-gt86-comes-in-stripped-down-rc-flavor-in-japan/

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