Hey, MR, get over here! by Jeremy Sinek
All of you who didn't buy a Toyota MR2 sports car when you had the chance, consider yourself grounded. It's partly thanks to you that Canadians will be denied the opportunity to buy Toyota's new roadster, the long expected MR Spyder (a.k.a. MR-S and MR2) which will shortly go on sale 'most everywhere else on the planet, including the U.S.
"There's just no market for it," explained Toyota Canada.
Just so you know what you're missing, the production version of the 1997 Tokyo auto show car has a midships 140-hp, 1.8-litre VVT-i motor shared with base versions of the new Celica; no doubt the 180-hp version, with its attached 6-speed manual gearbox, will be added later.
Other just-for-the-record ingredients: MacPherson strut suspension front and rear; steering with 2.7 turns lock to lock; 4-wheel vented disc brakes; 185/55R15 front and 205/50R15 rear tires; 3.885 mm long; 975 kg light; 0*100 km/h in 7.9 seconds.
Go ahead, spank yourself...
World of Wheels, January 2000