Original name: トヨタ VM180 ザガート

In 2001 Japan celebrated its long-standing collaboration with Italy with a series of important events. As if to mark the occasion, the year opened with the presentation in Tokyo on the 10th of January of a new roadster built by Toyota and designed by Zagato.

The design of the VM180 was commissioned from the Milan-based styling house, famed for its models for Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Aston Martin, and the prototype was built by Toyota over a tuned 155-bhp 1.8-litre VVTi-engined MRS chassis. The VM180 Zagato was built in a limited series by Toyota Modellista International and will be sold exclusively on the Japanese market..

The VM180 project puts Zagato's styling skills very much into focus, underlining the company's commitment to freedom of expression and maximum creativity. Aiming squarely at a market sector that constantly seeks the maximum in individual and highly personal design, Zagato re-interpreted the Toyota MRS's sporting image creating a more extreme styling statement.

The result is a car with a very strong visual impact, which captures the attention. Suitably low-slung and aggressive, to the knowing eye the VM180 gradually reveals a more subtle and balanced side, with carefully resolved proportions and delicate detailing in its lines and features.