Electric Supra charges in

	With the 400bhp V6 boosted by an electric motor, it has plenty to offer the sports enthusiast

Toyota hasn't had a sports coupé in its line-up since the late Nineties, but this spectacular show car previews an exciting replacement which would go head-to-head with Nissan's GT-R.

Making its world debut at the Detroit Motor Show this week, the FT-HS Hybrid Sports Concept has stunning looks and mighty performance supplied by a 3.5-litre petrol-electric engine borrowed from sister brand Lexus' GS450h.

Auto Express first revealed news of the Japanese stunner last year in Issue 934, when we told you how Toyota was planning a dual-fuel offering.

The FT-HS features a mix of sharp edges and sweeping curves, with a triangular profile and an enclosed aerodynamic tray underneath. Up front, the aggressive nose gets narrow headlights and deep air intakes. At the back, a one-piece light bar stretches across the entire length of the rear deck.

Painted brilliant white with blacked-out A-pillars and with 21-inch carbon fibre wheels all-round, the Toyota looks every inch the futuristic coupé. Further neat details appear throughout the car, including a retractable electric roof, which slides down to lie on the rear bench, a cabin with touch-screen instruments and a hubless steering wheel with paddleshifters for the gearbox.

A dark engine cover pokes through the bonnet, emphasising the coupé's performance. And with the 400bhp V6 boosted by an electric motor, it has plenty to offer the sports enthusiast.

Driving the rear wheels, the FT-HS should cover the 0-60mph sprint in less than five seconds and go on to a top speed in excess of 160mph. Power is transferred to the wheels through a seven-speed gearbox developed from the i-CVT unit in the GS450h. Yet with all the benefits of a hybrid drivetrain, it should be fuel efficient, too, running on electricity under light accel­eration and using the motor's power to boost the petrol engine when overtaking. Although Toyota has no official plans to build the FT-HS Hybrid Concept in its current form, a production-ready version could arrive in 2009, carrying a price tag of around £40,000.