Toyota is now fully entrenched in the performance market through its GR range of models, but more than 20-years earlier the Japanese brand let loose the SP9R sportscar powered by its family-oriented Camry.
Having just released the performance orientated Camry Sportivo, multiple Australian champion driver Alan Hamilton realised the potential of the package by installing it into the rear-engined SP9R.
Installed behind the driver and passenger is the 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine taken from the Camry Sportivo in addition go the gearbox and differential.
Producing 112kW and 218Nm from the Australian-made engine is modest now, but due to the SP9R’s lightness (approximately half the weight of the Camry Sportivo) the performance is greatly enhanced.
A one-make series for the SP9R was planned, but this didn’t occur despite the forecasted entry level participants the category was targeting.
Not only was the SP9R set-up for the track, but featured road-legal lights and mirrors to drive in public.
However, all these plans failed to come to fruition and the SP9R ended up being just concept.