Sigma Advanced Racing Development, better known as SARD (or perhaps just as Sigma to fans of Le Mans in the 1970s), is a Japanese tuning company and race team that specialise in Toyotas.

It’s no surprise then, that SARD is one of the very first companies to unveil a modified GR 86 – Toyota’s replacement for the brilliantly simple GT86 sports car. 

What you see here is the SARD GR 86 GT1 concept, and whilst there’s literally zero technical detail to accompany its reveal, there are a few clear updates over the standard GR 86 – a car we’re very much looking forward to driving.

The most obvious changes are to the bodywork, with a whole new face providing a clean look and small wheelarch extensions bringing a bit more aggression. Round the back there are blacked-out taillights, a standout rear wing and a chunky new exhaust system. 

There are new BBS wheels too (similar to the ones SARD fitted to the accompanying GT86 in the image above) and it looks as though the GR has been lowered. 

No doubt SARD will bring all of the parts used on this GT1 concept to market at some point, so we’ll find out then what’s actually going on under the skin, but for now we’ll just have to speculate about what it has done to the standard GR 86’s 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated flat-four boxer powerplant. 

Turbocharged? Supercharged? Engine-swapped? Thoughts and wildest dreams in the comments, please…