Here are nine of Toyota’s greatest hits

Toyota knows how to do small, simple, rear-drive sports cars as well as anyone. The torquier successor to the GT86, the GR86 finally arrived in 2021 with a Subaru derived flat-four boxer engine making 231bhp. The initial UK allocation sold out in 90 minutes.

An icon of off-roading, the Land Cruiser nameplate turned 70 years old in 2021. The FJ40 generation is perhaps the best known, not least because it’s so reliable they’re often passed down through generations as family heirlooms.

Another indestructible Toyota (as was comprehensively proven by TGTV in Series 3), the Hilux first arrived in 1968 and is now on to its eighth generation. With rear leaf springs and brawny diesel engines it’s still pleasingly old school in 2023, though.

Unveiled to the public at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, the straight-six engined 2000GT is widely recognised as Japan’s first ever supercar. Many have followed in the years since, but have any looked quite as good as this one did?

Although it may share its name with your nan’s hybrid hatchback, the GR Yaris couldn’t be any more different. With 4WD, a carbon-fibre roof and the world’s most powerful production three-cylinder engine (a 1.6-litre unit that makes 257bhp), it’s essentially a rally car for the road.

Turns out Toyota knows how to do luxury too, and the fanciest car the firm builds isn’t even a Lexus. That honour goes to the Century – a true flagship for Toyota’s home market, which has seen only three generations since 1967. Our favourite is the G50, which arrived in 1997 sporting a 5.0-litre V12.

Known colloquially as hachi-roku (for eight-six), AE86 was the code for RWD variants of the MkV Toyota Corolla. Two different body styles were available, but all AE86s were affordable, lightweight and easy to modify. No wonder it became the drift car of choice for a generation.

The fourth generation Supra was yet another Toyota that became the darling of the tuning scene. The twin-turbo version was already a supercar killer in its standard guise, but the 2JZ straight-six could handle over 1,000bhp with a few choice modifications. Yikes.

It may not have had much in the way of strong competition, but the TS050 was Toyota’s hybrid prototype racer that won the Le Mans 24 Hours three times on the bounce 2018–2020. It should have won in 2016 too, but a breakdown meant it was passed by the Porsche 919 on the final lap.