Upcoming Toyota Prius Coupe to get Italian design

[zenMachine]

Adding additional fuel to the ongoing speculation that Toyota will produce a sporty coupe version of its world-beating Prius hybrid hatchback is a new report from Japan's Best Car Magazine (via 4 Wheels News) that suggests the new model could be topped with a tailored sheetmetal suit courtesy of a famed Italian designer like Pininfarina or Italdesign Giugiaro.

REPORT: Upcoming Toyota Prius Coupe to get Italian design — Autoblog Green

[usbseawolf2000]

I like it. May be this is where Toyota plan to use Sanyo Lithium HV battery.

[Tech_Guy]

WWWOOOWWWW!!!!

I want one now!!!

Keith

[TonyPSchaefer]

Not a huge fan of the whole front end.

Plug it in and I'd get one.

[zenMachine]

"As is often the case with such rumors, Best Car has seen fit to include a rendering of what a two-door Prius may look like – which is (rather predictably) kind of like a half-melted lozenge – but there's certainly no indication that the actual car would look anything like this bit of rendered speculation..."

[Rybold]

Originally Posted by zenMachine

the ongoing speculation that Toyota will produce a sporty coupe version of its world-beating Prius hybrid

It seems like a no-brainer from a marketing perspective for Toyota to make a sporty coupe version of the Prius. All they have to change is the body panels and the doors. The rest of the car can remain identical, and it can increase the market of the Prius significantly; people who might want a sporty car but view the Prius as not sporty will now be able to consider the Prius coupe.

"An unnamed Toyota executive noted the targeted price point is somewhere around $24,000 with a 0-60 MPH time around 7 seconds." http://jalopnik.com/5175076/toyota-m...us+based-coupe

AutoSpies goes so far as to quote Mr. Toyoda (unverified): http://www.autospies.com/news/Upcomi...-design-47251/

This thing would sell like hot cakes! Everyone that wants a Scion tC or Civic coupe would buy this instead:

You'll never guess where Google found it from. Cool Prius Pics! (link to PriusChat)

.

[David Beale]

For those of you who may think the Prius drive train not worthy of "sport coupe" status, I just got back from the west coast, via highway 99 (think Whistler, winter Olympics, etc). The portion of this highway past Pemberton in particular (they're ruining the part to Whistler, making it "suitable for the masses". We're talking about a road with 18% grades, 30 km/hr corners, two lane. A FUN road!!! Pearl did very well. They just finished repaving the west portion of this road over the pass at Duffey Lake. I won't say how fast Pearl could go, as that would be bypassing the "fifth", but suffice to say nobody passed me, and I passed many (all safely of course). I've had my fun for this year!
A lower better cornering car would be a bonus, but it doesn't really need much more power. Pearl climbed the 18% grades fast enough to pass other vehicles. Kind of shocked a few of them to see a "gutless hybrid" zip by so fast.

So a little lower CG and sportier look and you'd have a winner in my book! I suppose I could sacrifice a little interior room for that.

[danl]

usbseawolf2000, it looks like they stole the design from your avatar. Lol

Edit: is it me or does the butt look alot like a chevy volt?

[Tideland Prius]

Not too keen on the front end but the overall shape looks fantastic. Just give the young'ins what they want - 18" alloys, full pano roof, a pumping stereo (maybe one from Scion instead of the JBL?), sport bucket seats, cool interior lighting (maybe have the speedo with a choice of white, amber or ice blue?), definitely swap out all the green lights for the radio and climate control with amber ones. Green won't cut it with the younger crowd. Don't bother offering an AT package. Make sure LED headlights are available and don't even think about putting those plastic plugs. Just have fogs as standard equipment (they care about looks, right?). Add the mirror-mounted indicators and throw in some TRD suspension.

[Rybold]

David Beale and Tideland Prius, I wish you were the heads of design at Toyota.

Put the current Prius powertrain and chassis into a sporty car like the Scion tC, lower it a few inches, add sport wheels and ground effects, and you will have every high school, college student, and middle-ager with this car first on their list. Superb!

(I really think that drawing above, of the green car, would sell like hot cakes)