10 things you may not know about Supra…
1. Intended as Toyota’s answer to the hot-selling Nissan Z-car, the first Supra (or Celica XX) in 1978 was a Celica stretched and widened so that a straight-six petrol motor would fit.
2. What began with 110bhp bowed out after four model generations and 20 years as the Supra Turbo with 326bhp and a reputation as a supercar rival – but still resolutely straight-six powered and rear-wheel drive.
3. The Supra and illegal street racing have long been bedfellows in video games and movies, including most famously The Fast and the Furious series.
4. The MkII Supra has a bit of Lotus magic in it. After Colin Chapman agreed a tie-up between the firms in 1982 (just months before he died), Lotus engineers helped Toyota with the Supra and Toyota in return helped Lotus with the then-new Excel.
5. British Saloon Car Championship stalwart Win Percy campaigned a Supra in 1983-4, fending off the Rover 3500s to win one round; the car was driven by Barry Sheene the following year.
6. An optional all-white pack for the Supra Turbo, which saw the body, exterior trim and even the wheels finished in white, reflected the must-see TV show of the time: Miami Vice.
7. Along with its trademark power door locks, power windows and pop-up lights, in 1981 the first-generation home market Celica XX became the first car to get… a navigation computer.
8. Toyota’s avowed intent to re-inject some fast-car vigour into its range in 2018 is understandable given its 1980s sports car prowess; in 1987 its Celica, MR2 and Supra were first, second and third in What Car? magazine’s best coupe awards.
9. With its simple layout and robust mechanicals, the Supra has long been a tuner’s delight, with outputs up to 2041bhp recorded.
10. 16,000 Supras were sold in the UK up to 1996 when the model was killed off here; it died in the US two years later while production ceased in Japan in 2002 – and there hasn’t been a Supra since.