Toyota regains its dream of sports car and GR brand’s development significance to Toyota.

　　[Pacific Auto Network New Car Channel] When it comes to Toyota, what is your impression of it in your mind? Apart from the fact that some brand die-hard powder can tell the history of Toyota family’s performance cars, I believe that the impression of most domestic consumers on Toyota brand is "very reliable family car". With the change of automobile consumption trend, consumers now seem to prefer cars that are sporty or look sporty. As a world-class automobile company, Toyota naturally knows that the era when it was able to travel around the world by relying on the "golden mean" is long gone, and the establishment of Toyota GR department and the emergence of GR brand are Toyota’s wild hopes for the future.

　　GR is called "GAZOO Racing", which is the sports department of Toyota, and is responsible for the development of Toyota racing cars and performance cars. However, GAZOO Racing was only carried up in recent years (specifically in 2017) as the face of Toyota performance cars.

　　Before it, Toyota also had other Racing/refitting departments in charge of Toyota’s races, represented by Racing and LEXUS Racing, which were used for Formula One racing and the World Endurance Championship (GAZOO Racing was used for the 24 Hours in newberg). So at that time, "GAZOO Racing" was just one of many racing departments. At present, the earliest information I found about this department’s participation was the endurance race in 2007. At that time, the team was supported by a team of mechanics composed of Toyota employees, and their racing cars were two second-hand Altezza (overseas version is 200, commonly known as "bite shark") racing cars.

　　Later, Toyota merged these departments into "GAZOO Racing" in 2015. It can be said that the current "GAZOO Racing" is not the same as the original "GAZOO Racing", which is largely a continuation of the name, which can also explain why this department is not so famous among racing fans.

　　What I want to mention here is the once famous Toyota race department — — Racing Development, TRD for short, I believe many people have heard this term to some extent. In those years, TRD participated in many competitions on behalf of Toyota, and won many awards. Later, TRD developed a series of civilian production cars, modified parts, performance packages and upgrade packages with its racing experience, and so on. It can be said that the list is endless, and it is a typical example of competition technology feeding back to civilian use.

　　In North America, many new Toyota cars have TRD kits (especially during this period, TRD is addicted to developing various aerodynamic kits for new cars), such as,, and so on, covering a very wide range (including cars, off-road vehicles and so on), which is unmatched by GR at present.

　　(2020 Asian Dragon TRD Edition)

　　(2018 Toyota Road TRD PRO Edition)

　　However, since it was mentioned just now that in 2015, Toyota once integrated its racing department, thus forming today’s "GAZOO Racing", then naturally someone will ask: "Since TRD is already in place, why do you need to create a GR department?"

　　If you want to know more about GAZOO Racing, you have to mention one person, that is, Akio Toyoda, the chief test driver of Toyota, who is called "the driver of Japanese racing hall".

　　Chengsehiro is a legend in his life, from a temporary mechanic of Toyota to a chief test driver of Toyota. As early as he was 22 years old, he participated in and manufactured the first super — — Toyota 2000 GT, and then he helped Toyota develop two famous cars — — MR2 and Supra. Seisehiro combines mechanics and driving skills. His years of racing experience made him play an important role in Toyota. Later, he was invited to assist in the development. This time, he devoted all his life’s efforts, and LFA was also his favorite car in his life. Everyone called it "the father of LFA".

　　At the end of the story, in 2010, Morihiro Sese drove an LFA performance version to test at the New Bogeling circuit, but unfortunately an accident occurred, and he served as the chief test driver for Toyota for 47 years — — Sese Hiroshi stayed in this favorite testing ground, the place of speed and passion forever, and finally the performance version of Lexus LFA was commemoratively renamed as the New Bogeling version for sale. Perhaps, for a test driver who loves his career so much, this end-result is the highest honor.

　　With outstanding driving skills, Naruhiro Naruhiro is not only an employee of Toyota, but also a close friend and master of Akio Toyoda. In the 1970s, Seisehiro set up an internal driver education audit system in Toyota, and he naturally became the most advanced test driver instructor in the department. He trained many drivers, including Akio Toyoda. At that time, Akio Toyoda was not an executive of Toyota, but a chapter of young people who loved driving and driver instructors.

　　Seisehiro brought Akio Toyoda to New Bogeling Circuit. Seisehiro loved to test vehicles on New Bogeling. The uniqueness of this circuit made him feel that there was no better place to test cars in Japan, so he also wanted Akio Toyoda to feel the charm of New Bogeling. This time, Akio Toyoda drove the Niu Mowang Supra with the code name A80. Akio Toyoda was driving Supra, and because he was not proficient in driving at that time, he could only "follow behind his car with trepidation". It was also from this that Akio Toyoda was infected by Seihiro, and he also took a fancy to this track and accepted Seihiro’s suggestion: Toyota’s car should be brought to New Bogeling for a test in the future.

　　With Akio Toyoda driving more and more on the New Bogeling circuit, one thing aroused his feeling, that is, he found that the cars used by the manufacturers tested here are generally new cars or prototype cars in recent years, and in short, the model year is relatively new (especially, he likes to pull the car to New Bogeling for testing), and he can only drive here in a second-hand Supra. Looking at others driving new performance cars, but only second-hand old cars at home, Akio Toyoda must have a lot of taste in his heart.

　　After the death of Naruhiro, Akio Toyoda mourned Naruhiro in his blog, saying, "We will continue to build better cars along the road pioneered by Mr. Naruhiro." And this seems to have planted seeds for the birth of GR brand.

　　Let’s stop the story of Akio Toyoda, New Bogeling and Seihiro for a moment. Let’s look back to 1997 before the Millennium. At that time, the Internet was not developed, and a person who wanted to buy a car and see a car often had to experience it offline. It is reported that Akio Toyoda, who was then a department manager, led a team to help make a website page, so that dealers could display the information of used cars on the website, including the used car gallery and related information. Akio Toyoda hoped to use the online platform.

　　This website is gazoo.com. The pronunciation of "GAZO" means "picture" and "image" in Japanese, which is in line with the original intention of this website (to facilitate consumers to see used cars online through online galleries). As for why "GAZO" evolved into "GAZOO", it turned out that Akio Toyoda added an "O" at the end of the original "GAZO", which became it. The meaning is very simple, which can be directly understood as "image zoo". Akio Toyoda wants to express that the gallery in this website is like a zoo, displaying all kinds of things. Welcome to visit and watch.

　　At this point, the word "GAZOO" officially appeared. At that time, gazoo.com was just a pure second-hand car platform, which was designed by Akio Toyoda to help dealers sell second-hand cars better. However, it is said that Toyota’s strategy was conservative at that time, so the official didn’t want to put the name on this website. Today’s gazoo.com is an automobile information platform, which includes not only used car information, but also new car information, forum exchange areas and race reports, etc. All of the above are not limited to Toyota or Lexus’ own Che Xun.

　　Akio Toyoda seems to like this team organized by himself, and he naturally organized a private motorcade in it because he loves driving — — GAZOO Racing, Seisehiro is the head of the team.

　　Seisehiro gave all his driving skills to Akio Toyoda, let Akio Toyoda have a deeper understanding of racing cars/races, took Akio Toyoda driving SUPRA for the first time to pass New Bogeling, laid down the law that "Toyota’s performance cars will pass the test of New Bogeling in the future", and served as the head of Kazuo Toyoda’s GAZOO Racing team, etc. For Akio Toyoda, Seisehiro’s deep friendship as a teacher and friend will be sure.

　　Akio Toyoda seems to like to keep a low profile. At present, the information I have found shows that Akio Toyoda didn’t like to publicize his identity before, and he didn’t want others to take extra care of him because he was a native of Toyota (this is very similar to some Japanese cartoons, and there is also a sense of sight in TV series "I don’t want to rely on my own"), so he will participate in the competition in the name of GAZOO Racing in the early days, instead of Toyota officials (at least in name) — Mr.Morizo。

　　This "Morizo" was originally the mascot of the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, and its image is an easygoing and kind old man. Interestingly, Akio Toyoda sent such a Weibo in 2018: introduce my grandfather — — ! There are five pictures, four of which are photos of myself and the 1955 model, and the last one (the position in the fifth frame is very conspicuous) is Ichiro Toyoda. Toyota Crown was born in 1955, which is of great significance to Toyota. Unfortunately, Ichiro Toyoda died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1952 (at the age of 57) and was unable to witness the crown off the assembly line. It was either coincidence or intentional nostalgia. In short, Akio Toyoda used this pseudonym.

　　Now, we can easily find the information that the "President" participated in the race under an alias. The man who used to run the Nurburgring capital with trepidation has become the president of the world’s top car companies. The Nurburgring circuit has long been known to him by heart. He can even participate in the 24-hour endurance race with the team and finish the race. He can even drag and drift in Tsinghua University, and is called "the best driver among the presidents". Yes, after the death of Seisehiro, Akio Toyoda inherited the position of teacher and officially became the Lexus Master Driver.

　　On Akio Toyoda’s Sina Weibo, we can find two Weibo like this: one of them is "Thank you, Mr. Narase. I am very fortunate to be able to complete the New Bogeling 24 Hours Endurance Race with you and the team you have trained. "

　　The other is "Me and New Bogeling — — Pay tribute to Mr. Cheng Sehiro, a Japanese car-hall driver. In the article, Akio Toyoda calls himself a "racing driver MORIZO", and the words are full of human feelings and tribute. As the president of a world-class car company, it shows the friendship between the two people by issuing two Weibo with such human feelings, instead of those superficial press releases.

　　　Here, I might as well sort out a few key words for you: Akio Toyoda, Hiroshi Mori, New Bogeling and GAZOO Racing. These seemingly separated and weakly connected points are inseparable from each other, and today’s TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is created under the butterfly effect. The so-called "all fruits start from the cause".

　　If you have the patience to see this, you must have a certain understanding of Akio Toyoda and Toyota GAZOO Racing. It all started with the second-hand car website named and established by Akio Toyoda, and then developed the team and invited Seihiro to join. The whole team can be described as a story with inheritance. Akio Toyoda certainly wants it to continue to grow. With the change of consumption trend, the resurgence of performance cars has become possible, and Toyota also needs to give the brand a deeper and wider latitude.

　　As for why GAZOO Racing is now fully supported and pushed by Toyota, while TRD, which has a longer history and deeper foundation, does not have this treatment, I believe everyone can understand it. After all, GAZOO Racing and the president of Toyota — — Akio Toyoda came closer.

　　From my personal point of view, it is TRD’s high popularity in North America that makes it not completely replaced by GR in name (at least). So although Toyota now claims that "GR and TRD have room for development, and the two brands can coexist in the market", it seems to me that it is only a matter of time before GR replaces TRD. In fact, it is very likely that the GAZOO Racing Department has absorbed many mechanical and technical talents from the original TRD, because now Toyota’s races/cars are basically represented by GR Department, which used to be TRD’s job.