Why the Toyota A80 Supra is a Modern Classic
Toyota
Not every car is appreciated in its day. Sometimes it takes years, or even decades, for a car to receive its proper due.
Just look at the Toyota A80 Supra, or, as its fans sometimes called it, the “Mark IV.” The fourth iteration of the Japanese sports car may be revered now, but back when it launched in 1993, it was greeted with what one could charitably call a shrug by the car-buying public. Although some could see its appeal—including the automotive press, who rated the car from the start—it wasn’t enough to stop Toyota from pulling the vehicle from the U.S. market after the 1998 model year, just five years after launch.
But then a movie called The Fast and the Furious came along in 2001 and let in on the secret the enthusiasts already knew: that the A80 Supra was an awesome car. Not only did it feature a smooth design that has aged quite nicely, but it also had some serious pep thanks to an optional turbocharged mill that, outside of Japan, made over 300 hp (more on that in a bit). It is a sports car that has shown itself able to hold its own—on or off the silver screen.
Here are five reasons why the A80 Supra is considered one of the greatest cars to ever come out of Japan
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A Heritage That Dates Back to the 1970s
Image Credit: Toyota The Supra started out life as the high-performance variant of the Celica, developed in response to a request from North America for something that could better compete with the Datsun 240Z. The debut A40 launched in Japan, where it was called the Celica XX, in 1978, and in the U.S., where it was called the Celica Supra, in 1979. It featured extended bodywork and an inline-six that was capable of making up to 123 hp. A slightly more powerful second version, the A60 (later versions of the first-gen car were called the A50), hit the market in 1981.
But it wasn’t until the third Supra, the A70, hit the market in 1986 that the car became a legend. The first distinct Supra was a true sports car, with an angular design, technological improvements, and a potent powertrain. Starting in 1987, the car was available with a turbocharged inline-six that made 232 hp and 254 ft lbs of torque. The car’s rich tuning potential also helped grab the attention of enthusiasts both at home and abroad.
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A Bold Departure
Image Credit: Toyota The Supra may have unpaired itself from the Celica during its third generation, but you could still see that the two models were related. It wasn’t until the nameplate’s fourth generation that it really began to stand on its own stylistically.
Toyota wanted the Mark IV to look like a true high-performance vehicle. Gone was the angular line that had defined the vehicle since its debut, replaced with a much sleeker shape. There’s not a sharp angle to be found on the exterior, just smooth flowing lines from the extended hood to the high-rise rear wing (though this now-iconic feature was optional).
Even though it is now considered one of the best-looking sports cars of its era, the fourth Supra still received a facelift prior to the 1997 model year. The exterior changes were minor, though, and mainly limited to the front fascia, which now featured thinner headlamps. Each 1997 example, whether it was the base model or Turbo variant, also came with special 15th anniversary badging.
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Standout Performance on and Off the Track
Image Credit: RM Sotheby’s The A80 was a beast, pure and simple. The car was offered in two flavors: the standard version, which came with a 3.0-liter inline six, and the Turbo, which featured a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six. In Japan, the first of those mills made a respectable 220 hp and 210 ft lbs of torque, while the second made 276 hp and 318 ft lbs of torque.
Outside its home country, Toyota wasn’t restrained by the “gentleman’s agreement” that limited output of Japanese vehicles to 276 hp, which meant a noticeably more powerful Turbo model. In the U.S., the variant made 321 hp and 315 ft lbs of torque, while in Europe it made 326 hp and 325 ft lbs of torque. The unadulterated Turbo was able to accelerate from zero to 60 in 4.6 seconds—something it took the first-gen Celica Supra 11.5 seconds to do—and reach a top speed of 160 mph.
It was also a car, like its predecessor, the A70, that tuners couldn’t wait to play with in an attempt to wring even more power out of its already potent mill. Because of this, a fair number of Supras that hit the open market have been modified in one way or another.
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A Second Chance Courtesy of Hollywood
Image Credit: Barrett-Jackson/Facebook Despite all this, the A80 Supra was a commercial flop. The car was pulled from the U.S. market following the 1998 model year (it was still sold in Japan until 2002). But while the car did not win over the mainstream, the crowd it had won over played a big part in its second chance.
That’s because the Mark VI popularity among enthusiasts meant it was one of the cars most prominently featured in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. In the first film in the long-running franchise, Paul Walker’s character Brian O’Conner fixes up a banged-up A80 as a way of ingratiating himself with the street racing crew run by Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto. He then uses the heavily modified, neon orange speed machine to absolutely smoke a Ferrari F355 in a drag race. That car, which sold for $550,000 at auction earlier this decade, isn’t the only A80 to feature in the franchise. Different fourth-generation Supras also appear in the second, fifth, and seventh entries in the popular film series.
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No Longer Underappreciated
Image Credit: RM Sotheby’s It may have taken those outside enthusiast circles a while to catch on, but no one would call the A80 Supra underrated at this point. The nameplate’s fourth iteration is now widely considered to be a great car. Because of this, a vehicle that started at $34,225 ($40,225 for a Turbo) when it debuted in 1993 can now command three to four times that at auction. The A80’s stature is also why its fifth generation, the A90, went on sale around the world in 2019, more than two decades after it was pulled from the market outside of Japan.
