Get this: the Toyota Supra is back, and it'll be joined by a new BMW Z5.

I keep re-reading our article on it and looking for bad news, because it all seems too good to be true. But, no, every time I scan through the details, all I’m left with is a happy, warm glow inside.

There’s just so much to like here. BMW’s Z car gets lighter than it currently is because it has a folding canvas hood, rather than one of those godforsaken metal jobs that just adds weight, complexity and cost and moves the centre of gravity skywards and rearwards, just where you don’t want it to be.

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And the Toyota Supra is back, engineered by the people who created the GT86, one of the greatest driver’s cars of the past decade.

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There’s strong differentiation between the models, too — and not just because of the bodystyle differences. Both parties get to use their own engines. BMW’s straight sixes, despite their turbochargers, remain some of the most endearing around. And Toyota makes a decent vee engine when it tries to. 

It also sounds like there’s no ‘senior’ partner — unlike with the GT86 and Subaru BRZ joint project, where Toyota’s mammoth resources when it came to sales and marketing left some Subaru insiders feeling like the minnows in the partnership.

This time, it feels truly altruistic: both BMW and Toyota are big, bold companies who just happen to want a sports car and know that this is the best way to go about affording one.

Mind you, if BMW can resist the temptation to make an M version with a fixed roof, it’s a more discreet company than I’d be in the circumstances. And if I were Porsche? For the first time in a long, long, time, I might be quietly stewing.