On December 5, three new sports cars had their world premiere at the Inventor Garage in Woven City. Take a look.
What Naruse left behind and Morizo’s role
Chairman Toyoda
Thirty years ago, it was Naruse-san and me, just the two of us, who were into carmaking.
Little by little, like-minded members joined the effort, and, finally, when the LFA was completed, Naruse-san, in a big smile that I had never seen before, said, "It's the first time I was able to drive Nürburgring just looking ahead."
Until then, we were constantly being overtaken by other cars, and now we had a car to overtake others. I could feel how truly happy he was.
That didn't mean that humiliation went away.
The LFA went into volume production, but it was a limited volume production.
We started to win races, but it was about becoming first rank in class. There were still many, many cars that were faster than us.
I could hear people saying, "No way that you guys at Toyota could build a car like this!"
I will never forget that feeling of humiliation.
And that pain is definitely the force that drives me even now.
And one day, 15 years ago, suddenly, I inherited the role of master driver.
Naruse-san left me with the "secret sauce" for making cars, one we made from the pain of our humiliation.
There was another thing that he left me, which was a few colleagues who shared that agony.
We used that pain and frustration as our driving force and continued our focus on simply making ever-better cars.
The GR86, GR Supra, GR Yaris, GR Corolla...
The hydrogen engine, Super Taikyu, the Nürburgring...
And now these cars...
At today's Toyota, I now have so many like-minded colleagues who are making cars with a shared conviction!
To these colleagues, I want to entrust our carmaking endeavor, and I want to work together with them to make cars so that our "secret sauce" can be passed on to future generations.
And I hope that you can continue to count on us to keep you excited.
At these words, the venue erupted in applause. Chairman Toyoda waited for it to subside before continuing.
Master Driver Morizo
My life has been a continuation of battles. And the role that I found through those battles is to be the last person to protect the others―not my role as president or chairman, but to make sure that my colleagues can evacuate to a safe place, so that they will be able to hone their skills and be able to fight back even stronger.
I'm the one who will protect them, so to make sure that they will be able to have that environment, Morizo will stay up and running until I fall down.
Thank you so much for coming today.
On December 5, the day of the world premiere, a new billboard was erected at Fuji Speedway’s “GR GT Corner.”
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s latest commercial features the tagline “The Soul Lives On.”
In an era with no clear right answers, Toyota is looking to do more than merely preserve its carmaking techniques. Like the ritual at Ise Jingu, the entire craft—the philosophy, skills, and conduct—is passed on to the next generation.
What is GT3?
GT3 is a racing category for grand touring (GT) cars, as designated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Grand tourers are based on mass-produced road cars, chiefly production sports models, tuned for circuit racing. Races featuring these vehicles are known as GT races.
Unlike open-wheel formula racing cars, those competing in GT events are based on production models, with 500 to 600 horsepower. They are also designed with a high level of safety, ideal for gentleman drivers as well as professional racers.
Super GT is a series of GT races primarily held in Japan, and currently the country’s most popular motorsport.
In GT racing, the GT3 category was established below GT1 and GT2 to reduce participation costs and attract a broader range of competitors. As a result, it is the most accessible tier of GT racing and has grown into the mainstream of the sport. Currently, the GT1 and GT2 categories have effectively ceased to operate.
The most significant feature of the GT3 category is its balance of performance (BoP) measures, based on production racing cars, that ensure fairness by minimizing performance differences between vehicle models.