Unfortunate news on the grapevine... Toyota's top test driver has died in a car accident in Germany. This chap has been involved with many of the Toyota sports cars developed since 1963. He almost certainly had a hand in the MR2 range and we probably owe him a debt of gratitude.
Rest in peace Hiromu Naruse, may your legacy live on....
I've been involved with a lot of those cars over the years and they epitomize what to me is the 'dream of Toyota'. They need to change their current thinking and go back to visit with these cars that people can be passionate about.
Hiromu Naruse, the chief test driver for Toyota who had a hand in every great sports car built by the Japanese giant since the 1960s, died in June while testing his masterpiece, the Lexus LF-A. Now Toyota is paying tribute.
The 67-year-old Naruse was a mentor to Toyota chief Akio Toyoda, and had spent the past decade honing the LF-A after decades of experience in motorsports. Any list of the most sought-after classic Toyotas in the United States - from the last Supras to the 1600GT of the 1970s - reads like a resume of his projects. He was so well known around the Nurburgring and other tracks of Europe that his competitors at Ferrari dubbed him "Nur Meister," and "the man who knows all the roads."
In this video produced by Lexus, there's a taste of the approach Naruse took to honing his creations into performance that transcended culture.
Obviously the LFA is an incredible car, but in a way it's a shame that it can only be enjoyed (first hand) by a smattering of people due to it's price tag.
If you look at the years and years of enjoyment that literally millions of people have had from the other cars shown in the video I think that brings an even greater level of honour to Naruse's life pursuit. It's a great loss to motorsport, Toyota, and all of the people like me who enjoyed the classic sporting collection that Toyota was able to produce way back when.
