The Toyota Supra has been a part of the used cars vocabulary for over 40 years especially in Orange County. When you go back to the Supra’s roots, you will found out that the original Supra was actually a glorified 1979 Toyota Celica Supra. The middle name was a reference to its shared chassis with Toyota’s smaller Celica sports coupe.
Eventually, the two models split in the 1980s, with the six-cylinder sports coupe letting go of the Celica name. After maturing and progressing throughout four generations, Toyota’s sturdy Supra sales downturned in the late 1990s and Toyota stopped producing the car for the U.S. market in 1998.
Although the Supra ceased to exist in America, sales continued in Japan into the early 21st century. Although some customers of used cars in Orange County failed to show the love they have with the Supra with their wallets, the Supra has become a legend in its own right, which paved the way for its comeback.
Ultimately, Toyota put everybody out of their misery and filled our hearts again with their new 2020 Supra model. Now Toyota has got our backs for their newest Supra model and it’s making a massive impression.
The Iconic Toyota Supra
Undoubtedly, the fourth-generation Toyota Supra allows this iconic car to continue its legacy. About two decades ago, millions of car enthusiasts across the globe witnessed a bright orange Supra drive through the streets of Southern California in The Fast and the Furious, and an overnight star arose in the car community.
Toyota is very aware of the strong admiration that surrounds the fourth-generation Supra so for this year’s virtual SEMA Show, it wanted to honor the Supra as a sports car hero.
The new Toyota Supra Sport Top concept was meant to be for an in-person SEMA Show, but unfortunately, the coronavirus had other plans. The Supra Sport Top is different from last year’s Heritage Concept is the alluring targa top. Similar to the fourth-generation Supra that so many of us watched Paul Walker jump from in the cult-classic film, Toyota engineers and designers tore off the roof from the fifth-generation car. In reality, it works better than a lot of people actually think it would.
A Targa-Topped Supra
You may remember seeing used cars for sale in Orange County like the vintage Supra in the 1980s and 1990s that had a targa top and it seems the spirit of these targa-topped Supras is alive and well with the GR Supra Sport, which is a one-off creation for this year’s digital-only SEMA show.
Toyota claims it was inspired by the A80 Targa Supra when it was ripping off the roof of an A90 to create the GR Supra Sports Top concept. This most recent build follows last year’s retro-inspired Heritage Edition reveal at the same event held in Las Vegas.
How Did The New Targa-Topped Supra Come To Life?
They started working on the car at first with an air saw, but Toyota and Texas-based KC’s paint Shop got nowhere very quickly since they managed to cut only about an inch of steel in half an hour. Hence the fact, a change of plans was needed, so they switched to a different cutting tool to get the job completed and transform the Supra into an open-air sports car. As a substitute, Toyota placed a pair of 3D-printed composite panels designed to seamlessly follow the car’s shape.
As a result, the vehicle is very impressive because you can hardly tell it’s the targa Supra instead of the regular coupe when the two pieces are in place. The original design was mainly kept by using the original windshield header and outer roof body structure shapes on the driver as well as the passenger sides. It seems to be the car’s original design even though it is actually a one-and-done car.
On the other hand, the Sport Top had more work because it required more than chopping off the fixed roof and replacing it with removable panels since the team behind the project added reinforcements underneath the car, beginning at the engine bay all the way back to the tub’s rear. Plus, the outer body was bolstered to keep the GR Supra’s rigidity even with an open-top configuration.
Having the car with the original equipment manufacturer look may seem odd and get people starting to think why Toyota isn’t trying to turn the SEMA car into a product you can actually go to a car dealer and buy. It could be because BMW wouldn’t be so pleased if that happens since the Supra is based on the Z4. Although the German version has an electrically retractable soft top, the Japanese and more affordable model would be hardtop with panels that you would have to remove yourself.
A First Of Its Kind Sportscar
Believe it or not, the Supra is not the first sports car from Toyota to lose its fixed-roof since the 86 went through the same process in 2013 for the FT 86 concept. Instead of switching to a targa setup, it featured an electrically operated fabric roof. In 2019, Toyota acknowledged that the concept almost turned into a production model at one point, but in the end, it never happened.
Current Supra Model
The 2021 Toyota Supra is a two-seat coupe that is available in four trim levels: base 2.0, 3.0, 3.0 Premium, and A91 Edition. The base 2.0 Supra uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, while all other trims use a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder that generates 382 horsepower, and 368 pound-feet of torque. Both engines come connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission and send power to the rear wheels.
For the targa-topped Supra, we will have to wait and see if Toyota will bring back the targa arrangement it initially had in 1986 for the third generation model when it was a stand-alone car and no longer making part of a Celica version.