BMW And Toyota Tease Enthusiasts By Claiming “M8” and “Supra” Names.

Nostalgia runs deep these days. Cars are getting retro inspired designs and tweaks and they look pretty damn cool. But it’s not only the cars themselves that are going back in time. Nope it’s also the names and the two that have just been claimed should make oyu extremely excited.

BMW has official claimed the 8-series moniker including “M8” and Toyota has just claimed the name “Supra” in Europe. If that isn’t a sign that these two companies are about to unleash these two cars in the next few years, then I’m not sure what is. This can also be a grab for former name plates so that no other companies snatch them up in case BMW and Toyota do want to create these in the future. Given recent reports, I’d say the former is a bit more realistic and that the 8-series and the Supra will be back in a big way, very soon.

From Car Scoops:

BMW’s move to trademark a number of 8-Series related names with the global intellectual property regulators is reigniting rumors of a comeback for the Grand Tourer built from 1989 through 1999.

According to BMW’s application that was discovered by Autoexpress, the Bavarians registered the 825, 830, 835, 850, 845, 860, M8 and M850 names. The magazine reports that a BMW insider told them that the “move was not merely a case of the company ring-fencing the badges for possible future use, and that it reflects an imminent rejig of BMW’s GT line-up”.

And from Car and Driver on the Supra:

It’s no secret that Toyota and BMW are collaborating on a sports car. While we’ve long suspected that this new car will be the spiritual successor to the beloved Supra, we weren’t sure if the Japanese/German hybrid would actually bear that name. Last week, though, the website supramkv.com turned up more evidence that the Supra nameplate will make its glorious return to the Toyota stable, as Toyota trademarked the name with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

The upcoming production car is expected to share design cues with the FT-1 concept and its platform and powertrain with the next-generation BMW Z4. Meanwhile, leaks out of Germany last year revealed that Toyota’s sports car is due to launch in 2018 with a BMW six-cylinder under its hood—maintaining the model’s history of straight-six engines.

So here’s what this all means: we know nothing. And that’s the honest truth. Just because a company is trademarking names doesn’t mean that it’s going to make them. We’ve actually seen this in recent history with Cadillac. Back in 2014 they trademarked the name “LTS” to continue with it’s alpha nomenclature only to scrap that months later and go with alphanumeric across the brand. The LTS then became the CT6 and all Caddys will become alphanumeric once their current model runs its course.

All we do know is that there isn’t an enthusiast alive that wouldn’t want a 2018 or 2019 BMW 8-series and Toyota Supra roaming the streets once again.

(Sources: Carscoops & Car and Driver)