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The Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept is real

As a two-door wagon the shooting brake exists at the unusual but captivating intersection between practicality and sportiness. This Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept is no different – it's a standard GT86, with no mechanical alterations save the grafted-on wagonette roof and hatch. It's fully functional, too, having turned some laps on Toyota's test tracks. It even has the blessing of Tetsuya Tada, the father of the Toyota 86 and its Subaru BRZ and (now rebadged) Scion FR-S, who's been protective of the original GT86 concept to the point of strenuously resisting any serious power upgrades. This isn't the first shooting brake concept we've seen from the Toyobaru twins, but it's the first Toyota-badged one. Subaru brought the Cross Sport Design Concept to the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show. So how did the GT86 Shooting Brake Concept happen? The story, as Toyota tells it, involves the company's Australian design team. They created a 1/4-scale clay model of the shooting brake, and showed it to Tada when he visited in late 2014. He was so impressed, Toyota says, that he had his hand-picked craftsman in Japan bring the idea to full-scale fruition. The Australian design team, in the outdoor-loving spirit of their country, immediately thought that the longer roof would be perfect for carrying surfboards and other unwieldy sports equipment. And it would be. Meanwhile, Tada and the rest of the Toyota corporation want to tamp down expectations. It's a design study, the company says, and it's just "testing the waters." Toyota won't rule anything out, and Mazda recently surprised everyone with the MX-5 RF's unusual and attractive targa model. Maybe in a world where Mazda felt confident enough to introduce the RF, Toyota can be daring enough to bring a sporty wagon to the masses. We can hope, and maybe if we all make enough noise together Toyota will make it a reality. Related Video: Featured Gallery Toyota GT86 Shooting Brake Concept Scion Subaru Toyota Coupe Hatchback Wagon Concept Cars Performance shooting brake toyota gt86 gt86

How Charlotte lost to Plano without even knowing it was dealing with Toyota

With Toyota set to relocate its North American headquarters to the Dallas, TX suburb of Plano following a top-secret, 100-city search, the cities that missed out can now begin asking themselves what happened during a process they apparently knew little about.
That's a particularly brutal task for Charlotte, which, according to North Carolina's Secretary of Commerce, Sharon Decker, finished second to Plano. While Toyota has been fairly open about what it was looking for in a new headquarters city - direct flights to Japan, proximity to its US production facilities, a lower cost of living, high-quality educational facilities and finding a neutral site suitable to the California, Kentucky and New York-based employees that would be relocated - it's been less open about how the finalist cities, which also included Atlanta and Denver, stacked up against each other.
The Charlotte Observer has a few ideas. Part of the problem is the distinct lack of direct flights between Charlotte and Asia. US Airways, which operates a hub at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, doesn't fly to Asia.

Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, Toyota Tundra flunk IIHS headlight test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety put pickup truck headlights to the test and found that the majority of them were equipped with subpar units. The 2017 Honda Ridgeline was the only truck to earn a rating of "good." The large pickup truck test was comprised of the: 2016 to 2017 GMC Sierra, 2017 Nissan Titan, 2016 Ram 1500, 2016 to 2017 Chevrolet Silverado, 2016 to 2017 Ford F-150, and 2016 to 2017 Toyota Tundra. The Sierra's headlights earned a rating of "acceptable," the headlights found on the Titan and Ram 1500 were found to be "marginal," and the ones on the Silverado, F-150, and Tundra were rated as "poor." IIHS claims the F-150 was the most disappointing out of the large pickup trucks as both its halogen and optional LED headlights failed to provide adequate visibility during testing. The Ridgeline (which earned a "good rating"), is usually considered a midsize or small truck, though IIHS included it in the field of large pickups. The headlights on the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado, 2016 GMC Canyon, 2016 Nissan Frontier, and 2016 to 2017 Toyota Tacoma, which made up the small pickup truck group, all earned a rating of "poor." The IIHS claimed the Colorado had the worst headlights of any truck that was tested, as the base vehicle's units were only able to illuminate up to 123 feet in front of the car. The Ridgeline's headlights, for reference, were able to illuminate up to 358 feet in front of the vehicle. To conduct its test, the IIHS utilizes a special tool to measure how far light is projected out of the headlights in different driving situations. The trucks' headlights were tested in a straight line and in corners, while vehicles with high-beam assist were given extra praise. The headlights on the pickup trucks also mimic the testing that was done on small SUVs and cars earlier this year. Next year, automakers will need to fit their vehicles with headlights that earn a rating of either good or acceptable to earn the IIHS Top Safety Pick+. Related Video: