Ever since Toyota and BMW announced their deal in 2011 to develop a sportscar platform jointly, the world has been waiting with bated breath to see how the product, or products rather, of this collaboration will pan out.  While BMW will build a Z4 replacement on this new platform, it’s the Toyota version that has sparked rumours and endless speculation among car lovers. Although the Japanese carmaker hasn’t confirmed whether it will revive the legendary Supra nameplate with the new car, recent news that it has filed for European patents to use the name has reignited hopes that a successor to the iconic model that went out of production in 2002 will be built.

We have seen spy shots of the Toyota sportscar being tested earlier, but the photos we have received   this week are the best yet, with the test car shown flaunting near-production-ready bodywork. While it’s clearly smaller than the striking FT-1 concept shown in 2014, it sure does carry many styling cues from the show car, including the prominent nose, the roof with the double bump, large air intakes, brawny rear fenders and a ducktail spoiler at the back.

It’s also rumoured that the Supra will get a hybrid powertrain for the top-spec model, possibly bringing together a turbocharged V6 and a couple of electric motors, with a setup similar to the one found in the Yaris Hybrid-R concept of 2013. As this model will only cater to a relatively small section of buyers, a conventional six-cylinder and four-cylinder powertrains are also sure to be part of the deal.

We’ll bring you more details on these as the development progresses in the coming months, before the car comes out sometime towards the end of next year or early 2018.