This Crazy Toyota Is Not Your Average Aygo

We recently visited Toyota’s press garage to pick up a pristine AE86 for a forthcoming video review. Inside the garage you’ll not only find the classic Corolla, you’ll also see all manner of cool cars. On one side sits the manufacturer’s new metal (including Prii and GT86s), while on the other you’ll find a couple of service ramps. At the far end of the garage, however, there are a few cars that aren’t so new.

Included are a wafty Lexus LS, a liveried and bewinged Supra and also a Toyota Picnic with the same 2.0-litre turbocharged engine you’ll find in a second-gen MR2.

The car that caught my eye most - the AE86 we were there to collect excluded - was a not-so-average Aygo. Because I asked, the nice chap at the garage agreed to wheel the unlikely beast out and tell me more about it.

As you’ve already gathered, this is not a production Aygo. The one-off concept was built in 2008 and is powered by the 1.8-litre DOHC 16-valve VVT-i four-cylinder engine normally seen in the third-gen MR2 and last-gen Celica.

Thanks to the addition of a turbocharger, the mid-engined Aygo Crazy - as it’s known - produces 200hp and 177lb ft of torque. Compared with a standard 1.0-litre Aygo, these figures make this one-off Aygo about three times as powerful.

Because it’s mid-engined, the Aygo is also rear-wheel drive. Power is transferred to the road via a five-speed manual gearbox and uprated Helix clutch. In the spirit of driving purity, you’ll find no electronic handling aids, power steering or ABS, a little like the retro AE86.

The car sits on MR2 suspension and a big set of 17-inch wheels, and features impressive stopping power for something that weighs little over 1000kgs; 328mm ventilated discs with four-pot Brembo callipers at the front and 280mm ventilated discs at the rear.

Inside this 127mph (est) baby rocket, you’ll see purpose-built sports seats with four-point harnesses and a full roll cage.

Check out the video below for a quick walk-around, start-up, and a closer look at the engine and interior.