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A brief history of the Supra:
(Under construction, of course)
-
Mark I: (1979-1981)
The Toyota Supra has its roots in the late 60's sports car produced
by Toyota, the 2000GT. The actual name Supra came out in 1979, when
the Toyota Celica was given an inline 6 cylinder 2.6 liter engine known
as the 4-ME (which had one of the first fuel injections systems widely
used on Toyotas) and some slight handling improvements. This car,
the first generation of the Supra, was given the name Toyota Celica Supra.
It is commonly referred to (at least by us Supra freaks!) as the "Mark
I" Supra. The 1981 model received the 5ME engine, which had a displacement
of 2.8 liters.
-
Mark II: (1982-1986)
1982 saw the next generation of the Supra come out, which was called
the Mark II. Although it was still called a Celica Supra, the Supra
was strongly distinguished from the Celica. The Mark II Supra had
a revised front end which was actually six inches longer than the Celica.
It had fully-hidden headlights, instead of the exposed ones of most Celicas
of that day. The engine was the 5M-GE, a fuel injected dual overhead
cam inline six 2.8 liter engine. In Japan a 3.0 liter engine, the
6M-GE, was sold with the Supra instead of the 5M-GE. The rear end
also got independent suspension and a limited-slip differential on some
models. The 1982 model of the Celica Supra won the Motor Trend Import
Car of the year. 1984 saw the first revisions to the Mark II, which
included a new taillight assembly in which the backup lights were moved
next to the license plate. The door handles were also changed to
a flip-up version from the flip-forward version-a very helpful change,
from what I'm told. The front marker lights were slightly changed,
and the engine received some work, increasing the horsepower from 140 in
1982-1983 to 160 in 1984. "SUPRA" also appeared in large letters
on the back of the hatch. 1985 saw the rear spoiler revised to a
lower-profile version, and some slight engine changes to increase the horsepower
by a few. There was supposed to be a new Supra for 1986, but setbacks
and problems in production forced Toyota to carry over the Mark II for
another year. The only change that the 1986 Supras saw was the addition
of the High-Mount Stop Light required on all 1986 new cars. I believe
that the asking price for one was approximately $16,000-$20,000.
(My 1984 MKII's sales contract says about $19,500)
-
Mark III: (1986.5-1992)
The third generation of the Supra was the first time when the Supra
was not based on the Celica platform. Mid-year 1986 was when this
third generation, the Mark III, came out. It was originally supposed
to have come out in the beginning of the 1986 model year, but production
problems set the date back. The first Mark III cars are actually
referred to as 1986.5. A new 200hp normally-aspirated engine, the
7M-GE, came out with the completely redesigned Mark III. This was
still an inline-6 with dual overhead cams and fuel injection, but
had a displacement 3.0 liters. 1987 saw the availability of the turbo
model in the form of the 230 hp 7M-GTE, which had an intercooled turbo
and electronically-controlled ignition. The 1989 models saw minor
exterior improvements including some tail light work. The Japanese version
of the MKIII actually had a 6-cylinder 2.5 liter engine with twin turbos,
which was known as the 1JZA-GTE. I have heard that the four-banger was
put in Japanese cars because the government taxes people on the displacement
and the number of cylinders in the motor, but not if there are turbos on
it (or at least not as much!). These cars are said to run pretty fast as
well - although I've never seen one, I wouldn't doubt it.
-
Mark IV: (1993-1998)
1993 saw the introduction of the fourth generation of the Supra, the
Mark IV. This was a completely redesigned, refined luxury sports
car with an asking price of approximately $40,000!!! The car was
available in a normally-aspirated version and a turbo engine. The
NA engine, the 2JZ-GE pushes out 225 hp, and the twin-turbo (yes, that's
two turbos) 2JZ-GTE has a horse power rating of 320. Many, many options
were available on this vehicle, most of which were luxury in nature.
Due to the very high price of this new Supra, sales were not as brisk as
with earlier models, and Toyota will not be importing any more MKIVs into
the US for the 1999 model year.
-
Mark V??????:
Since the death of the MKIV in the U.S., rumors have circulated about
the replacement for it. It is said that Toyota is working on a new
generation due out in 2000, and that it will be a lower-cost car than the
MKIV, although the performance will still be there. Although with
any rumor, no one knows if it is actually true.
My Supra:
MINE! It's mine, dangit! Here's her story:
My Supra is a 1984 Mark II L-type, which means "luxury". It came
with leather seats, special 14" 195 width wheels (which means no fender
flares!), a digital dash, no limited slip differential in the rear end,
and no headlight washers (darn it!). I've also got the trip computer which
seems to be a bit rare among the MKII's. A pitcure of it will appear here
soon.
Her history:
I am it's second caretaker (owner), and received it just this past
June from my aunt and uncle as a high school graduation gift. They
bought it new in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1984, and the next summer
shipped it out to California with them, as they moved across the country.
So it's essentially a California car-which accounts for the lack of rust
anywhere on the body. It's been serviced by either Toyota dealerships
or Toyota-certified mechanics for its entire life, and is in great shape
mechanically. Since I live in Pennsylvania, my father and I had to
fly out to California and drive it back home. We had no problems
with it at all driving it cross-country, which was an enormous surprise.
The car had been basically sitting for the past year (they only put 2000
miles on it July 1997-June 1998) and had nothing done to it maintinance-wise.
She was a bit sluggish in the low end, even for a Supra, but a few bottles
of fuel injector cleaner took care of that. A full tune-up once I
got her home put some more spunk into her kick - the spark plugs had never
been changed!
It was my dad's daily driver from August to mid-November, as the bottoms
of all four doors rusted out on his '86
Sable wagon, and we decided to do the repairs ourselves along with
some other stuff we'd been putting off. It's now back on the road
with a lot of extra sheet metal and a bit of Bondo, a bad paint job (but
pretty good for first time), and new brake and power steering hoses.
So when I get back home from my first semester at Penn State, I'll get
my Supra back!
Since I'm a poor college student, I really have no money to do any mods
on the Supra-not yet, that is. She's completely stock, and runs great
except for a valve tap which seems to be no problem right now. (It's
probably due to being overheated 2-3 times in California - the radiator
was clogged shut, and the person driving didn't see the temp rise until
the damage was done-don't ask.) When I get some money, I'll be playing
with her plenty-read: when I graduate from college and get a real job.
Until then, I'll have to do with her 160 stock hp.
(1/31/1999) Well, I'm back at Penn State for my second semester here,
and I'm not driving the Supra - I'm driving the "Lag
Wagon", otherwise known as the '86 Sable. I'm in central Pennsylvania,
and well, it's cold and snowy up here! My dad's driving the Supra
to get to work, but she gets to stay in a nice warm garage at night.
The Lag Wagon, on the other hand, is out in the cold and ice all day and
night. It also handles a lot better in the snow and ice than
the Supra does.
My Supra's "Portfolio":
The obligatory "full-body" shot:
"A Clean Engine is a Happy Engine" (yes, this is immaculately clean
compared to when I got it)
The beast lives! The L-type's digital dash in action:
Inside: (the leather's in great shape, but the carpet is a bit
stained):
SOGI
Do you have a Supra? Then you have to join the Supra Owner's Group
International. Check out their website at: http://www.supras.com/
Everything you wanted to know about Supras is there, and if it isn't, you
can either find it through one of the exhaustive links at the site, or
send the group a question. Yes, we have a mailing list that reaches
over 600 members (or is it 700 now?) with about 100 posts made each day.
Just send an e-mail to: supras@supras.com
and your question will be sent out to hundreds of Supra owners. In
addition to having many technical gurus in our possession, we also have
special sponsorship deals with companies around the country to provide
discounts for many popular Supra parts and modifications.
Who am I?
Actually, I'm not sure about the answer to that question myself.
They tell me my name is Ryan, and that I can be reached at this e-mail
address: etzel@psu.edu
So send me some mail! Please! I'm begging you! Ok, not
really. But intelligent conversations are most definitely appreciated.
Last updated: January 31, 1999
This page has been accessed 
times since Nov. 18, 1998.
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All of this stuff is mine! In otherwords, copyright
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