Has there ever been a car so closely associated with aftermarket tuning than the Toyota Supra? Well, yes, you might say – the Nissan GT-R, Nissan 240SX and Ford Mustang, for a kick-off. But we think that the Supra is a breed apart.
Because, as much as nostalgia has replaced reality these days, we should point out that the original Supra’s greatness didn’t come out of the box. Its potential for greatness came out of the box, which then required… erm, many other, different boxes, each full of parts, to extract the true magic for which the Supra’s famous.
Good news, then, for the new one: Toyota itself is about to debut the Supra, not as what it could be, but as it can be – or at least one of the ways it can be. Hint: it involves a wing that wouldn’t look out of place on a Boeing, a bodykit that practically begs policepersons to pull you over, and – with any luck – an engine fettled with overnight parts from Japan.
For reasons that probably make a truckload of sense to the people who built it, it’s called the 3000GT. Or, if you’ll remember, what Mitsubishi called its twin-turbo, all-wheel-drive nutter back in the Nineties. If we were to hazard a guess at the origins here, we’d say, 3000cc engine, Grand Tourer. Answers on a postcard (or, y’know, in the comments section) if you’ve a better – or funnier – guess than we have.
From what we’ve gleaned from the teaser video, we’re expecting 19-inch forged aluminium wheels, as well as carbon-fibre in the usual tuned-car hotspots – i.e. front spoiler, rear spoiler, side skirts, doors and rear spats.
And, in the style of tuned Japanese cars, these carbon additions should look about as incognito as Godzilla popping out for a pint of milk.
If you’d like to check out the broadly mystifying video – complete with its plinky, Gran Turismo-esque synthesiser music and swathes of Kanji and Hiragana – it’s available here.
