Toyota, Toyota, Where Art Thou, Toyota?

I'm on the first vacation I have taken in over a year. One of my friends in Oregon is getting married, and I thought it would be a good chance to come up to see some friends and family.
My dad's girlfriend (hurry up and get married so I can just say "step-mom"!) has been gracious enough to allow me to borrow a '97 Toyota Avalon that spends most of its life in a garage. The car belonged to her son, who now works in New York City.
Personally, I have owned 3 Toyotas, and have been quite fond of all three. The first was a '96 Camry. I had kind of a love/hate relationship with that car. It was well screwed together and the materials were above average for the period, but the steering was eerily lifeless, the throttle response was non-existent, and the suspension would float on the highway, but crash over cracks in the road.
The second Toyota was a '91 Corolla. It earned the name "champ" not long after I got it, for its ability to take heavy abuse without any complaint. I once ran over a PVC pipe about 8 inches in diameter, which had been put across the road by some hoodlums. The car bottomed out. It sounded like a grenade had gone off under it. It did exactly no damage. No crushed exhaust, no damage to the subframe, no dents, no scratches, nothing.
The next Toyota was a 4Runner; the rather unpopular '03 model. Despite its unpopularity, the '03-'09 is the best version. Mine had the V8. I bought it with over 150,000 miles, against parental recommendation, and had it for just over a year with no issues of note. It was smooth and powerful, accelerating with authority. Step on the gas and it would rear up, snort and charge forward embarrassing many a Mustang V6, and even an automatic V8. (I once made mention of this on the comments section of a video on YouTube. That was a mistake.)
The respect I once had for Toyota is all but gone now, killed off with the death of the Supra, Celica, and MR-2. The Corolla has evolved from a tough, honest little car, to a fat, lazy chunk of ugly plastic with less personality than a burnt out light bulb. The Yaris has come in, filling the void left by the Corolla when it became bloated. The trucks, once the very definition of toughness, are now adequate at best. Their only saving grace at the moment is the Camry, which can only be described as a rocketship, compared to its contemporaries, most of which have dropped their 6 cylinder options altogether.
"But wait a minute!" you're saying, "what about the FR-S/GT-86/BRZ? It's a real sports car!"
The coming of this little rear-wheel-drive bucket of hype is a bit of a sore subject for me. Toyota hyped this car up so much, making claim after claim, saying things like "it will be under 2500 pounds!" and, "expect between 200 and 250 horsepower!" and, "you won't pay more than 20 grand!"
All of those things sound great, no doubt. But let's look at the facts. First, Toyota had very little to do with the development of this car. They planned the project, designed it, and slapped their direct/port injection system on it. The engine, transmission, and chassis were all developed by Subaru, who modified existing components. Here's Toyota, maker of some of the best engines of all time, using an engine made by a company who can't make a head gasket to save their life.
Second, the claims about lightweight, affordable sports car were not met. It weighs 2700 pounds, which is light, but not as light as they said it would be. The engine makes 200 horsepower, which is fine for a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine, but the powerband is lumpy and uneven. The engineers claim this adds to the fun factor of the car. Sounds to me like they forgot to make a good engine and needed an excuse. They made similar claims about the tires, which the FR-FT-GT-BRZ-S-86 shares with the Toyota Prius. Supposedly tires with low rolling resistance are supposed to be more fun. I suppose this is true, if your idea of fun is losing grip at the mere mention of a turn. That must be why the weight distribution is front heavy too.
What's the cost for all this "fun?" just under $25,000 for the Scion version with the 1990s stereo head unit and no navigation option.
Honestly, the cost is my only real issue with the car, or rather the cost of its American competitors. A base model Ford Mustang rings in at $22,200, and the V6 performance pack, which adds suspension and brake upgrades, as well as a shorter final drive ratio for better acceleration, will set you back another $2,000. Not only that, but the Mustang has a full 50% more power. It's gripper, faster, and cheaper. Not to mention that the Mustang looks perfect from every angle.
Toyota and Subaru, then, have created nothing more than a hype machine. At one time, Toyota made some of the best sports cars on the road. They won dozens of rally races with the Celica, and to this day, the Supra does its part to scare the shart out of dyno operators everywhere. Those days, however, are gone, and we are left with a car that over-promised, and under-delivered.