What Actually Made Toyota Supra Famous

In 2010, Dominic Toretto changed the world with seven words:” You owe me a 10-second car.” It was a car that you could customize down to the molecules and turn into a missile. And ever since Brian O’Conner’s  Toyota Supra put Dom’s Dodge Charger to shame in the first Fast and the Furious, it helped define the car culture all around the world. 

The Supra is a living legend from the land of the rising sun. Ask any teen on the block about JDM culture, and he’ll say I don’t know much about it. Ask the same kid about the Toyota Supra, and he’ll start a yap session. 

This can give you a hint of how much of an impression the Toyota Supra has made on millennials and Gen Z. But it didn’t have the fame, respect, and popularity it had when it first came out. 

History Lesson

A little history about the mighty sportscars: it came out as a pony car. Ford came out with the Ford Mustang in 1964 and launched the pony car craze. Who wouldnt want a stylish, mid-priced sedan with big engines? 

 

 

Toyota wanted to compete, so they introduced their rear-wheel drive Toyota Celica in 1970. The car went through minor changes over the years. In 1978, Toyota Introduced the Toyota Celica XX. Toyota North America’s faculty didn’t like the name very much, so they renamed it the Toyota Celica Supra instead. 

 

 

The Supra was a more robust and stylish version of the Celica. The hood on the Celica Supra had to be made longer because Toyota took the legendary 4-cylinder engine from their flagship 2000GT sports car from the `60s, the M-engine, and gave it two extra cylinders just for the beloved Supra. 

 

Now, Toyota always stands for reliability and dependability, just like me. But unlike me, it doesn’t stand for fun and excitement. So, they took some help from their British friends at Lotus in the 1970s. When you put the words “British” and “1970s” in the same sentence, you always get “quality”. 

So, the Toyota Supra got to be more awesome, and Lotus Excels got reliable parts from Toyota. But they still broke down. I mean, they’re Lotus. After all, nobody can fix a Lotus. The result was a car that was neither too good nor too bad. Five stars for effort, though. Its chassis code was A40.

In 1981, the A50 Toyota Celica Supra was introduced, but the American Journalists didn’t like the name A50, so they started calling it Mark 2. Just like the first car, the Mark 2 Supra was okay but could have been more exciting. In 1986, Toyota split the Celica and Supra into different models. 

This was the Mark 3 Supra, and it featured a more powerful version of the M-engine. However, it gained 500 pounds at the same time. So, it was still just like its predecessors: average. 

Introducing Forced Induction

Things started to get better in 1987 when someone at Toyota introduced forced induction to the M-engine, i.e., added a turbo to turn the M-engine into the 7M-GTE, which is still considered a legendary engine. An inline 6 making 230 hp may sound like something other than exciting, but this was all back in 1987. 

In 1993, the Mark 3 Supra evolved into its final and most successful form with a new performance-oriented Inline-6 called the 1JZ-GTE. It humiliated the older 7M-GTE and made the Supra a lot faster than before. 

Things were starting to get serious. The Toyota Supra, which began as a competition for the Ford Mustang, was suddenly more affordable, desirable, and faster than the Ford Mustang. 

The Final Boss

Toyota introduced the Mark 4 or A80 Toyota Supra in 1993. It ditched the boxy design and looked like a Porsche. It was a sleek blend of aerodynamics and awesomeness. It was even more potent than the previous models, and Toyota body shamed it into losing some weight, so it lost over 200 pounds. 

The more powerful and less heavy Supra wasn’t only fast but also had better handling. According to Car and Driver Magazine, the Supra had the most powerful brakes and the shortest stopping distance of any production car between 1997 and 2004. 

Secret Ingredient

Among various other factors of the Toyota Supra’s success, a major one was the 2JZ-GTE engine. The Supra offered two engine options: a naturally aspirated 2JZ-GE for the Supra SZ and a twin-turbocharged 2JZ-GTE for the Supra Turbo or Supra RZ. The 2JZ was indestructible. 

Any mechanic who knows what he is doing could swap out a few parts, turn up the boost a notch, and turn the 2JZ into an 800hp monster. For reference, Ayrton Senna’s F1 car made 710hp that year. The 2JZ is still considered one of the most tuneable and robust engines ever.  

The A80 Toyota Supra was successful. It was faster and more comfortable, had four seats, and looked good. Did I mention those excellent brakes before? It was reliable, too, because it was still a Toyota. 

It was so good it gave Porsches and Aston Martins a run for their money in the day for half the price. 

The 10-Second Car

It became so famous that it became a movie star. Not only was it driven by the legendary Paul Walker, but it also got the lead role in the first Fast and Furious. The Supra’s starring role turned an entire generation onto the Japanese sports car scene and car culture in general. Without this car, I wouldnt have a job. Thanks for proving my dad wrong, Supra! 

 

The Mark 4 Supra was a legend, an icon, just like me. Toyota stopped producing the A80 Supra in 1998. The Supra was too good for this world. Brand new in 1992, it was worth $29,000. In 2024, a well-kept or highly-tuned Supra is worth over six figures. 

So, if you have one lying around in the garage, you could be rich if you sell it.

The Unwanted Child

Toyota tried to revive the Supra by partnering with BMW and introduced the A90 Toyota Supra in 2019. It was a BMW Z4 but with Toyota badging. But despite being a good-looking, affordable, and reliable sportscar, it didn’t get the fame and respect the A80 Supra had. 

And with that said, the Toyota Supra’s legacy died with the A80 Supra. Hope you enjoyed reading this blog. For more amazing automotive content, follow Arabwheels Blog.