Zagato Once Worked Its Magic On A Toyota MR2

Zagato has put together some pretty special creations in its time, usually with Aston Martin or Alfa Romeo badges on them somewhere. Think the Giulia TZ2, the ZS, the DB4 Zagato… we could go on.

In the coachbuilder’s vast catalogue though is a plethora of obscure, slightly weird and completely unexpected works. Like this, the VM180 Zagato, unveiled at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show.

If our headline didn’t already make it clear enough, the windscreen and A-pillars might be enough to tell you the car hiding underneath isn’t some European exotic. What it is is a third-generation Toyota MR2 – or to be more faithful to the JDM version it’s based on, an MR-S.

It’s fair to say the front and rear of the cars are pretty unrecognisable from the MR-S underpinning it. Those bug-eye headlights look more like a failed concept for the TVR Tuscan than a Toyota, while the triple-stacked taillights are only going to further trigger anyone with trypophobia.

It wasn’t just the lights, though. Effectively every non-structural panel on the car was new and with more angles and vents. Changes were a little more restrained for the interior of the VM180 Zagato, limited to retrimming the upholstery and the introduction of a gated shifter.

It got a bit of a power bump as well, with the 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine producing 155bhp – about 15bhp more than standard – although sent through a five-speed automated manual gearbox rather than a proper stick shift.

While Zagato designed the car, Toyota took care of building it. Oh no, this wasn’t just a one-off concept – a production run of 100 was planned by in-house tuner Toyota Modellista. These were all earmarked for the Japanese market.

We’re not sure exactly how many were built, but clearly ‘some’ as occasionally a VM180 will crop up for sale through Japanese auction sites. We couldn’t tell you how much they’re worth today given how sporadically they appear, but we reckon it may be the cheapest way into Zagato ownership. Except maybe for this Zele 1000.