It is easy to forget that mammoth Japanese carmaker Toyota hasn’t always been GR Yaris cool. All those years ago back in 1999,weweresmackdabintheeraofthefifth generation Starlet and eighth generation Corolla. Cars so devoid of personality they made merely dull look interesting. In the UK we had yet to roll into the new millennium and the delights of the all-new Yaris and first generation Prius, models that had the kernel of a snifter of something about them, even if it was just hope of better times to come.