TEEN fantasies are the most vivid ones, weren’t they?
Many of us can still recall our teen fantasies and for car guys, surely some of them involved driving their favourite cars.
In the early 1980s, Toyota came out with a car that had a long and sharp nose, pop-up headlamps, fastback tail, six-cylinder 2.8 litre engine. It was called the Supra, and boy did that car stir up emotions.
The vehicle that we see here is called the A60, and it sat on a redesigned Celica XX platform with an all new exterior styling.
This is the first time the Supra came with pop-up headlamps, which were all the rage in the glam-rock era, no “fluffy-haired dinosaur” worth his beans would be caught dead without one.
The platform was lengthened and widened to accommodate the engine and give the car a more pleasing profile.
Supras with the six-cylinder 5M engine, which were offered in Europe, North America and other export markets had a wide body stance, while the two-litre versions sold in Japan were kept slim, in line with Japanese dimension regulations.
Today when we look back at it, the car still epitomises everything that is the 1980s, from its bold and simple bodyline, to the contrasting detailing and the glam-rock feel of the vehicle.
This is not a wallflower, it was not even petite. Standing at 4.6m-long and 1.7m-wide and weighing 1.3 tonnes, it was considered a big brute back then.
The colour scheme I remembered the most was white or silver with black detailing, although advertisements in car magazines usually featured a red coloured Supra.
Its interior had futuristic looking digital-analog dials. This means that some of the instrument bits featured digital displays while others were shown in analog format.
The speedometer was digital while the rev counter was analog with a green line that light up to indicate the engine speed.
The sides of the main instrument cluster had two large dials. The one on the right sets the cruise control speed and other functions of the trip computer while the one on the left turned on the lights and other stuff.
The Supra’s trip computer was super advanced for the time as it could calculate fuel consumption, average speed, estimated time to destination and other things that could now be performed by your mobile phone applications. The trip computer was part of the Luxury package.
The Supra came in the Performance and Luxury packages while it was not strictly true, the performance package had adjustable side bolsters and a pneumatic lumbar support adjustment, complete with squeeze-type air pump.
Most of these features are now available in even family hatchbacks, but in 1980s, the cockpit might as well have been a space shuttle’s.
I am not sure what trim package came with the car because by 1985, Toyota had so many variants of the Supra that it was difficult to tell if the cars were performance or luxury models just from their specifications.
For example, the car we see here was originally sold in the United Kingdom and it has an automatic transmission, which suggests that it is a L-version, but then again it also has a digital speedometer from the Performance package and adjustable lumbar and side bolsters in fabric trim, which suggests that it is a P-pack car.
Whatever trim package it is, this is a rare clean example of 1980s sports performance.
Sadly, most Japanese cars are usually heavily modified and finding a Supra that is in original condition is difficult.
It is nice to see an original 2.8-litre in-line six cylinder engine under the bonnet. Out of the factory, the 2,759 cc 12-valve dual overhead camshaft 5M-GE could generate 145hp and 210Nm.
It is a relatively relaxed engine by today’s standards, but it could launch the Supra to 100kph in 9.8 seconds and cleared the quarter mile in 17.2 seconds. These are numbers that would slightly shame modern warmed-up family hatchbacks but were considered impressive since a well tuned Ferrari from the same era would probably clock around 6 seconds to reach 100mph (160kph).
Our car comes with a four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive and locking torque converter to improve fuel economy, as well as performance.
In the early 1980s, Toyota had a close relationship with Lotus, and they sent the Supra to Hethel for ride and handling training. This enhanced the Supra’s independent suspension and variable-speed power steering. That is to say that it had a relatively fast and accurate steering and gave decent feedback to the driver.
Like most Lotus-tuned cars, the Supra is not known for outright grip but more for its progressive and usable chassis. It is a car you can hustle fast with some confidence as it keeps the driver updated on what is happening on the road.
We did not push it hard around Petaling Jaya, but had a few spurts of acceleration to remind us just how lovely performance an inline-six sounds.
The car you see here does not feel 32 years old. It feels half that and if you want to bring it back to mint condition, the only work that needs to be done is on the suspension and maybe some work under the bonnet.
The cabin is spotless and it even has the original spare wheel, jack and toolset in its boot. It comes with the original user manual and original purchase invoice and all the necessary maintenance record.
There is really no fair price for this car because of the good condition that it is in. Considering that this is a UK car, the startling lack of rust indicates that it probably lived most of its life in a temperature and humidity controlled garage. Or at least in an enclosed garage and warmed up regularly to prevent moisture buildup.
This car is used by its owner on an intermittent basis, but he can be persuaded to part company with it if the price is right. My guess is that you would not get much change from RM100,000 to RM120,000.
While it is not cheap, it would give you a leg up over the usual AE86 crowd and they will bow down to their new leader. If you are really keen on the car, please do email me and I will try to put you through to the owner.