#2013SubaruBrz

“The car just comes alive with a nice set of tires.” Those are the words of Toyota VP Bob Carter, which were ringing in my ear after a chat I had with him at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

This week’s installment of TGIF[R-S] isn’t about me, or my car, but about how the 2013 AutoGuide.com Car of the Year came to be, thanks to a post I stumbled across on the Toyota UK blog.

While Subaru is targeting 5,000 units for its new BRZ sports car, Scion believes its version of the joint Toyota-Subaru project will more than double that forecast.

We know you’re itching to get your hands on a new Subaru BRZ. Subaru does too, and today you can get your fill of BRZ-heaven by configuring your sports-coupe online.

The Subaru BRZ went on sale in Japan on February 3 and was expected by the company to sell around 450 units a month. Now, almost two months later, Subaru’s parent company Fuji heavy industries has released that 3,551 BRZ’s have sold, eclipsing estimates.

If you think about it, limiting availability of one of the most highly anticipated cars of the 2013 model year is a pretty savvy move, after all it can only serve to keep demand high right?

Although the concept version of Subaru‘s rear-drive BRZ, displayed at the 2011 LA Auto Show back in November, looked close to production ready, we’ve now seen the real thing, which made it’s North American Debut this week at the Detroit Auto Show.

As expected, Subaru has debuted the production 2013 BRZ at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show and it looks as good in the flesh as it does in the photos. With all the previews and reveals ahead of its official debut, there were no real surprises once the 2013 Subaru BRZ was seen on the show floor.

We’ve already seen one result of the joint project between Toyota and Subaru, the Toyota GT 86, and now we have the official photos of Subaru’s variant, the BRZ. By now, nothing about the BRZ is much of a surprise even though we anxiously await the world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The production model of the 2013 Subaru BRZ just got official, as seen in the January 2012 issue of Road & Track magazine. It won’t be long until we’ll see the real deal BRZ when it makes its world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show, and it appears that Road & Track got to experience the US-spec model based on these photos.

Subaru has already teased its new BRZ STI concept numerous times, but now comes the very first image of what the production car will look like. Set to debut at the Tokyo Motor Show at the end of the month, rumors have indicated the BRZ could produce as much as 300-hp from a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, although Subaru is sticking to its story of a naturally aspired 2.0-liter shared with the Toyota FT-86, making 197-hp.

The Subaru version of Toyota’s FT-86 sports car has been overshadowed for its entire pre-existence with the big T showing sexy concepts at international auto shows while Subie was left with displaying significantly less-sexy bits like the chassis and engine. That, however, will change at the LA Auto Show, where Subaru is tipped to reveal its rear-drive sports car, the BRZ, in all of its glorious sheetmetal.