The eagerly anticipated sports car tie-up between BMW->ke178 and Toyota->ke88 is set to take on a life of its own after reports have circulated that the two companies are currently in the process of developing as many as five concept versions to determine which one they will present to the public.

This leads us to assume two things: BMW and Toyota both have a whole lot of time on their hands or the two automakers are determined to shake up the auto industry with this sports car->ke506.

We're inclined to believe the latter because the industry has dictated that everybody should be on their toes when building new vehicles. No pansies allowed, so they say. That's why we believe BMW and Toyota are hunkering down and are determined to see this joint project through and through.

Drive indicated as much when it quoted a handful of BMW employees that the two companies are working on "four, five, or six" different proposals.

This then leads to the rather exciting speculation about what kind of car BMW and Toyota are building together. Is it just going to be a traditional front-engined sports car? Or should we prepare ourselves for something completely out of left field, like, say, a mid-engined supercar->ke177?

To the credit of the quoted BMW employees, even they don't know what its going to be.

There are so many questions that need to be answered, that much we're sure, but what we can tell you right now is that the tie-up between the two brands will give birth to two distinct models.

Could it be that the long rumored return of the Supra is in the horizon?

Click past the jump to read about the Toyota Supra

Toyota Supra<

The return of the Toyota Supra has been the subject of countless speculation over the years, a testament to the clamoring for the car to be resurrected after more than 10 years of inactivity.

Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada has already made it known that he prefers to see a "mid-sized vehicle" to come out of this BMW-Toyota partnership from the Japanese automaker's perspective. It's a rational point, considering it wouldn't make sense to build a sports car that would overlap with the hot-selling GT 86->ke4085.

So if the Supra does make its return, what can we expect from it?

For starters, we expect a completely new design that plays into the automaker's new design language while also keeping intact -- relatively speaking -- the Supra look that made the car a popular item in the years it was around before being discontinued in 2002.

Also, we expect it to pack output somewhere in the 400-horsepower range. That's not too much to ask for, considering that the last-generation Supra already had 320 horsepower and 315 pound-feet of torque at its disposal. Replicating those numbers wouldn't make sense because it would be too close to what a tuned GT 86 is capable of doing.