It's getting harder and harder to purchase a genuine stripped down vehicle these days. Manufacturers have discovered that it's both cheaper and easier to offer every model with a surprisingly high level of content rather than build multiple variations on the same theme. That's why tricks like power locks and windows are all but ubiquitous, even on bargain-basement models. Not so in Japan. Toyota is offering buyers a stripper version of the company's new GT86 sports coupe. The vehicle comes as a blank canvas just waiting for your personal touch. Outside, the stock 17-inch alloy wheels are replaced with 16-inch steelies, and the bumpers, side mirrors and door handles all arrive unpainted. Don't expect to find any fog lights, either. Indoors, niceties like a stereo, air conditioning and even trim work around the steering wheel and shifter are nowhere to be found. Toyota even went so far as to ditch the plastic intake cover under the hood. The vehicle doesn't come with a limited-slip rear differential, but the sacrifice seems worth it to us. For starters, the GT-86 RC carries a price tag of 1.9 million Yen, or $24,601 at current conversion rates. That's significantly less than the standard model. Then there's the fact that the RC weighs nearly 100 pounds less than the base GT-86. Sadly, we doubt either Scion or Subaru will offer a similarly stripped-down version of their respective FR-S or BRZ models, though history disagrees with us. Scion did, in fact, offer a stripper version of the tC back in 2007 called the tC Spec Package.

In this exclusive video to Yahoo News, professional formula driver Ken Gushi has an extremely close call with a wild deer who runs across the road directly into Gushi's path. Gushi was test driving the forthcoming Toyota Scion FR-S in northern California's Mt. Diablo State Park when the near-mishap took place. Director Simon Needham captures the whole thing in HD, including Gushi's reaction. "On my very first run of the day today we were up in the canyons driving and I come across this left hand turn over a crest and down onto a straight," Gushi says in the video. "I'm trying to mind my own business driving and trying to navigate these unknown roads when all of a sudden I see this black figure just prancing toward the road. At that moment, I just knew, 'Oh, s--- something's wrong.'" "I got on the brakes and I see this deer coming down the mountain, getting as close as two or three feet, and again just prancing, minding his own business." Thankfully, neither Gushi nor the deer were hurt. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, deer are responsible for or involved in around 1 million collisions with automobiles each year, killing 200 Americans, causing more than 10,000 injuries and $1 billion in vehicle damage.

Well, that didn't take long. The First Toyota FT-86 (a.k.a. Scion FR-S) has made its way to the dyno courtesy of the good people at HKS. How'd it do? The vehicle managed to spin the rollers at 170 rear-wheel horsepower, which dovetails with the 200 crank horsepower announced by Toyota and Subaru after calculating a 15-percent driveline loss. Of course, whenever HKS gets involved, you can feel safe betting your lunch money that forced induction won't be far behind. True to form, HKS showed off its handiwork on a drift car version of the new sports coupe from Toyota. The FT-86 looks more than happy to dance through a few chicanes sideways, and we can't wait to see the vehicle go fender-to-fender with the best of them. Click past the jump to check out the dyno video for yourself.

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