Is this the next Toyota MR2?

Toyota has something special coming, perhaps even more special than the GR GT supercar already revealed late last year. The brand has openly discussed development of something mid-engined since it first revealed a GR Yaris development mule with a power-dense four-cylinder in the back over a year ago. Thanks to a quick-thinking trackside photographer, we may finally have a look at what the final mid-engined Toyota could be.

A photographer caught the car trackside at the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway, in the same corner where a GR GT3 was seen testing two full years before its reveal. The photos show off a car with the basic shape of an MR2, although the compact platform could theoretically be holding an engine either in front of or behind the driver. Wide rear fender, a fixed window, and a swan neck-mounted rear wing could indicate that this is a racing prototype rather than a prototype of a road car.

A few elements on the car notably seemed to be carried over from existing cars, including headlights and tail lights that could be straight off a GR Yaris. The wheel are instantly recognizable as either Volk TE-37s or a similar-looking option from another manufacturer. The A-pillar seems to match the shape of the Lexus LC, too, indicating that this might be a purpose-built testing car put together with components that Toyota already had on hand.

This video taken trackside does not have perfectly clear audio, but the noises in the clip do seem to indicate that this model could be powered by a smaller turbocharged engine. That would make sense for a car testing the brand’s new four-cylinder, but it could also just be something running a modified variant of the three-cylinder in the current GR Yaris and GR Corolla.

This spotting is just the latest in a long string of developments that seem to be hinting at an inevitable return for the MR2, or at least a Toyota sports car that is more like an MR2 than anything else. Back in January, Toyota teased its long-awaited return to the world of mid-engined sports cars before revealing a custom Kei truck. That false start was followed by confirmation from an executive later in January that the brand is developing a mid-engined model, but buyers hoping to get a new midship sports car from Toyota should not get too excited just yet; that same confirmation came with word that development could take up to five years.