There is no official or objective ranking of Toyota’s best sports cars. This editorial selection weighs historical significance, distinctive engineering and layouts, motorsport achievement, cultural influence, and lasting appeal. It spans compact rear-drive coupes, a four-wheel-drive rally car, mid-engine roadsters, and grand touring icons; the order is a cross-era sequence, not a proven ranking.
Ten Toyota sports cars that shaped the story
1. Toyota Sports 800 (1965–1969)
The Sports 800 is a fitting starting point: small, light in concept, and mechanically unusual. Toyota’s history of the GT86 identifies it as a two-cylinder boxer-engined car whose development began in 1962, and as the first in Toyota’s sequence of front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports cars with a horizontally opposed engine. Toyota later cited the Sports 800 as one of the heritage models whose qualities it wanted the GT86 to capture.
2. Toyota 2000GT (1967–1970)
Developed with Yamaha, the 2000GT established Toyota as a maker of serious grand touring cars. Toyota UK’s 2016 history describes a 2-litre inline-six producing 150 hp and a claimed maximum speed of 220 km/h. Toyota says the car set three world and 13 international speed records, achieved notable racing success—including victory at the 1967 Fuji 24-hour race—and that 337 cars were made before production ended in 1970. These are Toyota’s historical claims, not independently verified test results.
The project leader, Shoichi Saito, set an ambitious brief: “do whatever necessary to not only produce the 2000GT, but make it one of the – or perhaps even the – greatest car in the world,” as quoted in Toyota UK’s account. Toyota USA’s 2019 history gives a different total, 351 hand-built coupes, and says 62 left-hand-drive cars were imported to the United States. The two Toyota-published production totals differ; they should not be treated as interchangeable counts.
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3. Corolla GT (AE86)
The AE86’s importance is not about overwhelming power. Toyota describes its appeal as a moderately priced car combining a mass-produced engine with a compact front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout. That formula made the Corolla GT a more accessible kind of driver’s car than the rare grand tourers in this list, and Toyota itself names it among its sporting icons.
4. Celica GT-Four
The Celica GT-Four brought rally-minded engineering to a road-going coupe. Toyota’s lineage archive records the fourth-generation Celica’s arrival in 1985 and the GT-Four’s introduction in 1986, with full-time four-wheel drive and a turbocharged DOHC engine. A representative GT-Four grade in Toyota’s archive is listed at 185 PS at 6,000 rpm; specifications varied by grade and market.
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The competition record belongs to successive generations and versions, not one unchanged car. Carlos Sainz won the 1990 World Rally Championship drivers’ title in a Celica GT-Four. Toyota’s later history records the GT-Four RC and the company’s first WRC constructors’ and drivers’ titles in 1993. That progression is what makes the model important: the road car’s turbocharged, four-wheel-drive character was closely tied to Toyota’s rally programme.
5. Celica Supra A40
The A40 is the bridge between two nameplates. Toyota USA says the Supra series began in 1979 as an upscale version of the Celica. In Japan, the car was part of the Celica XX line; Toyota’s vehicle-lineage archive records the 1986 separation of Celica XX into an independent Supra line, using a name already familiar in overseas markets. The A40 matters because it began a lineage that would develop its own identity beyond the Celica.
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6. Supra A80 (fourth generation)
The A80 became a performance and grand-touring icon, with later cultural recognition extending well beyond its original sales period. Its dates depend on the market: Toyota USA says it was sold in the United States from 1993 to 1998 and remained available in Japan until 2002. Those are market-specific availability dates, not a single global production span.
7. MR2 SW20 (second generation)
The second-generation MR2 put the engine behind the seats, giving Toyota a very different sports-car layout from the front-engine coupes. It launched in October 1989. Toyota’s historical archive lists a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder rated at 225 PS at 6,000 rpm for the GT grade, and describes this generation as more of a sports car than its predecessor. That output is for the cited representative grade, not every SW20 market version.
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8. MR2/MR-S (third generation)
The third-generation car returned to the MR2’s mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive arrangement in a lighter-looking open two-seat form. Toyota’s 1999 announcement describes it as an open-body mid-ship roadster with a 1.8-litre VVT-i engine and announced market entry for spring 2000. Naming varied by market: Toyota’s release calls it MR2, while MR-S and MR2 Spyder were used in some markets.
9. GT86
The GT86 revived the appeal of a compact, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive Toyota coupe, this time with a horizontally opposed engine. Toyota says it led product planning and design while Subaru led engineering, with the two companies jointly developing and refining the car. Its stated inspirations included the Sports 800, 2000GT, and AE86: a modern interpretation of Toyota’s accessible, driver-focused sports-car tradition rather than a direct copy of any one predecessor.
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10. GR Supra (A90)
The A90 continues the Supra’s grand-touring strand. Toyota’s UK brochure places it in a lineage spanning A40, A60, A70, and A80 generations, and describes the Supra formula as a front-mounted straight-six with rear-wheel drive. It shares little in layout with the mid-engine MR2 or the compact GT86, but carries forward the long-bonnet, six-cylinder GT character associated with the name. Grades, specifications, and availability depend on market and model year, so check the local Toyota model page for current details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the ten compare
| Car | Layout and body | Defining role or distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Sports 800 | Front engine, rear-wheel drive; compact sports car | Early Toyota boxer-engined sports-car identity |
| 2000GT | Front-engine grand tourer; inline-six | Landmark design, speed-record claims, and racing history |
| Corolla GT (AE86) | Front engine, rear-wheel drive; compact coupe | Accessible, mass-production-based driver’s car |
| Celica GT-Four | Front engine, full-time four-wheel drive; turbo coupe | Road-car connection to Toyota’s WRC success |
| Celica Supra A40 | Celica-derived, upscale coupe | Starting point for the Supra series |
| Supra A80 | Front-engine performance/GT coupe | High-profile fourth-generation Supra, with market-specific sales periods |
| MR2 SW20 | Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive; two-seat coupe | Turbocharged GT grade and mid-engine character |
| MR2/MR-S | Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive; open two-seater | Roadster interpretation of the MR2 formula |
| GT86 | Front engine, rear-wheel drive; coupe, boxer engine | Accessible modern sports coupe developed with Subaru |
| GR Supra A90 | Front-mounted straight-six, rear-wheel drive; GT coupe | Modern continuation of the Supra grand-touring lineage |
Which Toyota sports car is the most iconic?
It depends on what “iconic” means to you. The 2000GT is the clearest early statement of Toyota’s ability to build an exclusive, high-performance grand tourer. The AE86 represents accessible rear-drive fun and has enduring enthusiast recognition. The A80 is the Supra generation most strongly associated with later popular culture, while the GT-Four has the strongest documented rally connection in this selection. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda made the personal nature of that attachment explicit at Toyota’s 2019 North American International Auto Show press conference: “I’m sure for each of you there’s been at least one car in your life that you have a particular attachment to, one car that holds a special place in your heart, and for me the Supra is it,” as reproduced by Toyota USA.
Which of these Toyota sports cars are rear-wheel drive?
The Sports 800, AE86, Celica Supra A40, MR2 SW20, MR2/MR-S, GT86, and GR Supra are rear-wheel drive. The Celica GT-Four is the four-wheel-drive choice. Toyota’s cited material does not establish the drivetrain detail for every market version of every historical Celica Supra or Supra grade; the lineup descriptions here reflect the cited models’ defining configurations.
Is the Toyota MR2 a sports car?
Yes. Both MR2 generations in this selection fit the sports-car description: they are two-seat, mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars. The SW20 offered a turbocharged GT grade, while the third-generation MR2/MR-S shifted to an open-body roadster format. Toyota’s own description of the SW20 as more of a sports car than the preceding model reinforces how distinctly it was positioned.
Quick Recap
Choosing among Toyota’s different sports-car ideas
- For a landmark and rare grand-tourer story: the 2000GT has the strongest combination of distinctive engineering, Toyota-published performance claims, and early racing history.
- For accessible, compact rear-drive character: the AE86 and GT86 are the most direct fits, separated by decades but connected by Toyota’s own heritage framing.
- For competition pedigree: the Celica GT-Four is the standout because of its four-wheel-drive turbo configuration and documented WRC titles.
- For mid-engine balance and two-seat focus: choose between the coupe character of the SW20 and the open-roadster format of the third-generation MR2.
- For a grand-touring Supra lineage: the A80 and A90 represent different eras of the front-engine Supra idea, while the A40 explains how that identity began.
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