Image Credit: @You_SuiKoyoAZ / X / Toyota.Toyota has been dropping hints about a revived MR2 for a while now, and the automaker just keeps sweetening the pot. The latest tease comes courtesy of a video and photos posted by an X user who managed to catch a heavily disguised prototype lapping Fuji Speedway in Japan. If you've been holding out hope that Toyota still knows how to build a proper small sports car, this is very good news.The car in question is a compact coupe wearing big rear vents and boxy fender flares, with headlights and taillights that appear to be borrowed straight from the GR Yaris parts bin. It's a scrappy, home-built look, the kind of thing that suggests engineers welding brackets in a back room rather than a polished design studio. And yet it works. There's something charming about a prototype that looks like it was assembled with whatever was lying around the shop, especially when the end result still manages to look purposeful.This isn't the first mule Toyota has shown off on the road to the MR2's return. A previous test car, nicknamed "Concept M," was essentially a GR Yaris with its engine relocated behind the driver, not unlike what Renault did with the old Clio V6. That car already turned heads. This new prototype looks like the next evolution of that idea, closer to whatever Toyota actually intends to sell.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhat really gets the pulse going is the mechanical package hiding under that camouflage. This is shaping up to be a proper enthusiast machine, and the details back that up.A New Engine, Not the One You'd Expect走行動画 pic.twitter.com/5LxZVE7FCC— ∬なのぽよ∬🧪🗿 💬🔁💙 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩→? (@You_SuiKoyoAZ) July 22, 2026The exhaust note in the video doesn't belong to the familiar three-cylinder G16E-GTS found in the current GR Yaris and GR Corolla.Instead, this prototype is running a new 2.0-liter four-cylinder believed to produce around 400 horsepower, the same engine reportedly under development for Concept M.All-Wheel Drive Joins the Mid-Engine PartyToyota is also expected to send that power to all four wheels, a first for the company in a mid-engine application. Gazoo Racing's engineering chief, Naohiko Saito, told Auto Express that pairing a midship engine with all-wheel drive is new territory for Toyota, but that early testing showed it delivers the best setup for serious performance driving.AdvertisementAdvertisementHonestly, that tracks. Toyota's rally program has leaned on AWD for decades, so applying that same philosophy to a sports car feels less like a gimmick and more like Toyota playing to its strengths.Motorsport First, Showroom LaterGiven how Toyota has handled recent development programs, it's a safe bet this car will see track and rally duty before the finished MR2 gets its official reveal, possibly with a camouflaged public appearance or two sprinkled in along the way.It's a refreshing approach. Rather than teasing a static concept car, Toyota is letting us watch the actual development process play out, proving these aren't just design exercises but machines being genuinely tested and refined.If you want more stories like this, follow Guessing Headlights on Yahoo so you don't miss what's coming next.