That is not a thatchback; this is a thatchback:

Renault was doing that earlier, on the 2004 modus;

I find it weird to be saying this, but the grille looks... too small. Not by much, but it just doesn’t feel in proportion to the rest of the car.

Couple of thoughts;

Yeah, I wouldn’t call this a knockoff. there’s similarities, sure, but nothing major.

The wing’s the obvious bit, but it’s the smaller details that really sell this rework, and would have been nice to see on the actual release; the lights really work nicely, but the window reshape, though subtle, helps bring in a little more of the mkiv

My dad wound up with a courtesy car for a few days back when I was at secondary school; he said he’d give me a lift back home when he picked it up, and told me to keep an eye out for a sporty two-seater;

Huh, odd; you can get the Vito (EU metris) as pretty much any config you like, so far as I’m aware, including FR turbodiesel with a 6-speed manual. Can’t seem to find the EU configurator, though.

It’s like the grille designers were trying to mimic the M8 GTE, but no-one else got the memo:

Not quite the cheapest:

Limos and rat rods are kind of different beasts; a limo is, generally, a public hire vehicle, used to transport multiple members of the public. If things go wrong, those members of the public’s lives are on the line. They’re also big, and, as such, more likely to get tangled with other vehicles in the event of a…

I’m not saying it’d be cheap, or even worthwhile on their part, but re-using tooling and parts would still make a noticeable dent in the production costs, surely? Also, why would crash testing standards prohibit re-purposing of drivetrain components? I guess re-use could increase costs of other development due to…

Wouldn’t they? Correct me if I’m wrong, but the cayman uses mostly unique drivetrain parts etc, whereas the MR2 historically economized by putting the drivetrain of an FWD car in the back, an option Porsche doesn’t really have. Add in to that re-use of various other parts from mass-market vehicles, and Toyota should…

I’d probably go for the obvious side-opening hatch description, but the opening style kind of reminds me of a grand piano, so I’d maybe also go for piano-lid hatch?

There were several FWD cars before then; the Traction Avant, 2CV, Saab 92, and Suzuki Suzulight were all produced in relatively large numbers before the Mini. The Mini arguably popularized the layout, but I suspect we’d have gone that way with or without it’s existence.

Open question; why not use perforated sheet or mesh for the signs? should cut down wind resistance, and shouldn’t affect the readability too much.

Up-badging:

Skip to 11:27;

The evidence of these replies indicates that it’s still subject to debate, although both you and I are on the same side of it.