The 2000s were a wild time for car culture, as every inch of it was crafted to be over the top, in your face, and off the wall. The cars we collectively admired most in those bygone days of 15-ish years ago were louder, lower, and more, uhhhh, crazy. In order to get people pumped up about buying the all-new first-ever supermini Aygo, Toyota UK developed a mid-engine hot hatch concept called Aygo Crazy. All these days later, and it remains perhaps my favorite thing to ever wear the Toyota badge.
Instead of the standard fuel-sipping 65-horsepower 1-liter three-cylinder pulling the 1,962 pound itty bitty around by the front wheels, the fabricators in Toyota UK’s corner yanked it all out in favor of a much more powerful unit. The Aygo Crazy cribbed the 1ZZ 1.8-liter VVT-i engine from the Celica GT-S and pumped that up with a Toyota Motorsport turbo kit and a special tune to deliver 197 horsepower. They full on trebled the power of the original engine, and then put all of that in the back hatch to power the rear wheels.
The car was fitted with suspension components from the MR-Spyder sports car, Tein coilovers, inch-wider fenders to fit with the car’s intended “go kart” driving experience, a one-off widebody kit, and a custom cooling system to keep the engine running right. Toyota said the car was built “to put smiles on the faces of those inside and outside the car,” and I think it was true to the scope of the project.
Even with a full interior, this car weighs just 350 pounds more than a stock Aygo at 2,314 pounds, though admittedly it now seats just two instead of the original uncomfortable four. Some of that weight is the roll cage, but most of it is the larger engine, bigger brakes/wheels/tires, and the now massive cooling system. With a mostly complete interior, this car looks like it would be pretty OK to drive around on the daily, though you’d probably have to raise the ride height a little and adjust it to ride a little softer. Toyota says it was capable of a 5.7-second 0-62 time, and topped out at a short-geared 127 miles per hour.
I’m not saying this is what the GR Corolla should have been, but maybe instead of a useless back seat, the top-of-the-heap Morizo Edition should have put the engine back there. Yeah, that would be cool.
Anyway, the Aygo Crazy is one of those cars that I can’t ever get out of my head, and just like an earworm song, it helps if you share it with other people so thet they get it stuck in their head, too. Misery loves company, and hopefully you’ll be miserable right along with me that we can’t ever own an Aygo Crazy.
