2003 Toyota Mr2 Spyder With Twin Turbo -- Mint Condition -- Red Hot Screamer on 2040-cars

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FIA introduces 'Hypercar Concept' for World Endurance Championship

One of the most common jabs at hypercars is the question, "Where can you drive them to their potential?" Imagine the answer being: to the checkered flag in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. We're not there yet, but the FIA World Motor Sport Council took a step closer to the possibility during its second annual meeting in Manila, the Philippines. One of three initiatives the WSMC announced for the 2020 World Endurance Championship was "Freedom of design for brands based on a 'Hypercar' concept." This "Hypercar concept" would replace LMP1 as the premier class in the WEC. The dream, of course, would be seeing racing versions of the AMG Project One, Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Regera, McLaren Senna GTR, Pagani Huara BC, and the rest of the gang trading paint and carbon fiber through Dunlop in a heinously expensive version of "Buy on Sunday, sell on Monday." The reality is that we don't have all the details yet on the set of regulations called "GTP," but the FIA wants race cars more closely tied to road cars, albeit with the performance level of today's LMP1 cars. Exterior design freedom would shelter internals designed to reduce costs, the FIA planning to mandate less complex hybrid systems and allow the purchase of spec systems. One of the FIA's primary goals is lowering LMP1 budgets to a quarter of their present levels. Audi and Porsche budgets exceeded $200 million, while Toyota - the only factory LMP1 entry this year and next - is assumed to have a budget hovering around $100 million. Reports indicated that Aston Martin, Ferrari, Ford, McLaren, and Toyota sat in on the development of the proposed class. If the FIA can get costs down to around $25 million, that would compare running a top IndyCar team and have to be hugely appealing to the assembled carmakers. The initiative represents another cycle of the roughly once-a-decade reboot of sports car racing to counter power or cost concerns. The FIA shut down Group 5 Special Production Sports Car class in 1982 to halt worrying power hikes, and introduced Group C. In 1993, Group C came to an ignoble end over costs; manufacturers were spending $15 million on a season, back when that was real money and not one-fifth of a Ferrari 250 GTO. Then came the BPR Global GT Series that morphed into the FIA GT Championship, which would see the last not-really-a-road car take overall Le Mans victory in 1998, the Porsche 911 GT1. That era would be most aligned with a future hypercar class.

Drive like a prince: Join us for a walk through Monaco's car collection

Small, crowded, and a royal pain in the trunk lid to drive into during rush hour, Monaco sounds like an improbable location for a huge car museum. And yet, this tiny city-state has been closely linked to car culture for over a century. It hosts two major racing events every year, many of its residents would qualify for a frequent shopper card if Rolls-Royce issued one, and Prince Rainier III began assembling a collection of cars in the late 1950s. He opened his collection to the public in 1993 and the museum quickly turned into a popular tourist attraction. The collection continued to grow after his death in April 2005; it moved to a new facility located right on Hercules Port in July 2022. Monaco being Monaco, you'd expect to walk into a room full of the latest, shiniest, and most powerful supercars ever to shred a tire. That's not the case: while there is no shortage of high-horsepower machines, the first cars you see after paying ˆ10 (approximately $11) to get in are pre-war models. In that era, the template for the car as we know it in 2023 hadn't been created, so an eclectic assortment of expensive and dauntingly experimental machines roamed whatever roads were available to them. One is the Leyat Helica, which was built in France in 1921 with a 1.2-liter air-cooled flat-twin sourced from the world of aviation. Fittingly, the two-cylinder spun a massive, plane-like propeller. Government vehicles get a special spot in the museum. They range from a Cadillac Series 6700 with an amusing blend of period-correct French-market yellow headlights and massive fins to a 2011 Lexus LS 600h with a custom-made transparent roof panel that was built by Belgian coachbuilder Carat Duchatelet for Prince Albert II's wedding. Here's where it all gets a little weird: you've got a 1952 Austin FX3, a Ghia-bodied 1959 Fiat 500 Jolly, a 1960 BMW Isetta, and a 1971 Lotus Seven. That has to be someone's idea of a perfect four-car garage.  One of the most significant cars in the collection lurks in the far corner of the main hall, which is located a level below the entrance. At first glance, it's a kitted-out Renault 4CV with auxiliary lights, a racing number on the front end, and a period-correct registration number issued in the Bouches-du-Rhone department of France. It doesn't look all that different than the later, unmodified 4CV parked right next to it. Here's what's special about it: this is one of the small handful of Type 1063 models built by Renault for competition.

Toyota sees profit slip but beat earlier forecasts

TOKYO — ToyotaÂ’s July-September profit fell 11% from a year earlier as the coronavirus pandemic slammed global demand, but JapanÂ’s top automaker appeared to be holding up better than weaker rivals that have sunk into the red. Toyota reported Friday a quarterly profit of 470.5 billion yen ($4.5 billion), down from 530 billion yen a year ago. Quarterly sales slipped to 6.77 trillion yen ($65 billion) from 7.64 trillion yen. Its president, Akio Toyoda, told reporters Toyota employees worked extremely hard, including making masks and face shields and boosting efficiency at factories to achieve results despite the pandemic. “Toyota has become gradually stronger,” he said, offering gratitude and praise for how resilient Toyota has proven itself to be. “This shows how each individual worked so hard,” said Toyoda, the grandson of the automakerÂ’s founder, vowing that each of its employees will keep thinking about contributing to a better world. Toyota raised its global sales forecast to 9.4 million vehicles for the fiscal year through March 2021, better than its earlier forecast for 9.1 million vehicles. ThatÂ’s still lagging behind the more than 10.5 million vehicles sold in the last fiscal year. Toyota, based in Toyota city in Aichi, central Japan, said it expects to record a 1.4 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year. It earlier projected 730 billion yen ($7 billion) in profit. Toyota, which makes Lexus luxury models and the Prius hybrid, recorded 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) in profit the previous fiscal year. ToyotaÂ’s operating income fell in most regions, including Japan and other Asian markets, but improved in North America. Operating Officer Kenta Kon expressed caution about the U.S. outlook, given the rising coronavirus cases. But he said ToyotaÂ’s latest models were popular, and dealers were adjusting incentives to get good results. All the worldÂ’s automakers have been slammed by shrinking demand as COVID-19 squelches economic activity. Some nations, including Japan, have sunk into recession. Although uncertainties persist about further outbreaks and when a vaccine might be available, there are signs of recovery in some parts of the world. Japan has managed to keep pandemic-related deaths at fewer than 2,000. It has reported about 105,000 cases nationwide.