Friday 19th September 2014

Shed Of The Week: Toyota Supra

White on white is alright for Shed and this rather fetching Supra Turbo

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A few weeks ago Shed turned up a Mitsubishi GTO. This week he's unearthed another prime slab of Japanese muscle in the Magnum PI/Miami Vice rolled-up jacket sleeves shape of this 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo.

Normally, in the interests of variety, Shed will always try to mix it up a little in terms of the cars he selects every week, but this one is too good to leave aside.

Pop up headlights are just cool. Period

Now, we all know that pictures tell lies, but even with a jaundiced eye this car looks remarkably straight. Ignore the blinding whiteness: comprehensive colour-coding was par for the course back then. Concentrate instead on what you're getting underneath all that blanco, which is a throbmungous 235hp 3.0 straight six in a RWD chassis.

The '86-'92 Mk 3 A70 Supra model marked the bifurcation of the previously conjoined Celica and Supra lines. The Celica went FWD (boo!) but the Supra stayed true to its roots with back-end drive. Nowadays of course, most have abandoned the long six in favour of vee-format engines. You can understand why: the V6 crankshaft is (more or less) half as long. This shortitude meets many modern engineering requirements, such as weight-saving and compactness, along with a few legislative ones, like greater fuel efficiency.

But the true Shedman with more than one hair on his chest sneers at these mimsy sops to the false gods of petrol-saving and packaging. If a man-sized crankshaft was good enough for Jaguar, it's good enough for us. Why, even the normally ignorant Mrs Shed is in favour of this format. Just before leaving Shed Towers for a hen night at the Dog & Deckchair, Shed was surprised by her apparent (not to say unique) interest in his half-joking proposal to buy an old Supra. The last thing she said as she ran out of the door was how much she was looking forward to the prospect of a big weighty crank whirling in front of her.

Yes it's an auto but all is not lost

The robustness of this particular bottom end means you can tune the cods off it. The stock Turbo uses just under 7psi of boost to deliver its 235hp. Quick mods to the exhaust and secondary cat and an extra couple of psi will take that up to around 280hp. After that, the sky's the limit. A boost controller will grant you a pass to the exotic hinterlands of 300hp plus. Replace the intercooler: 320hp. Upgrade the fuel pump and injectors and tweak the boost to 15psi: that's 340hp. A bit more fine tuning to the fuelling will give up to 375hp with the stock turbo. Bolting on an aftermarket puffer can hoick that figure up to 750hp or beyond.

Achieving supercar-bothering performance in a Supra Turbo is not so much a test of the motor's ability to take the strain as of your ability to supply the readies. With an unfettered cash flow and what looks like such a straight and sound example, it would be extremely tempting to go the whole hog under this car's bonnet.

But the big question you're all asking of course is this: what are the political and social ramifications of the Scotland vote? No, sorry, what we meant to say there was, can you replace the auto box with a manual? So easy to get those two big questions mixed up.

Sky's the limit for tuning here if you wish

The answer is yes, of course, but stay thy haste. Unlike some marriages we could mention, that of a straight six to a lazy four-speed auto would not necessarily be an unhappy one. The meaty bottom end mentioned earlier would go a long way towards mitigating the power-sapping effects of a '80s slushbox, which in this case would probably account for around five per cent more transmission losses compared to the manual. If you simply want to reach for your trilby and packet of Panatellas and surf some torque, leave the car be: you'll still be mastering a more than acceptable amount of thrust.

With two sets of keys, a wodge of paperwork, full cabin moo-age and the ultimate PH life accessory of pop-up headlamps, what, we ask, can possibly go wrong?

Well, apart from the usual perils associated with age, i.e. suspension, brakes and pipework, owners of regular N/A Supras have an entirely rational fear of blown head gaskets, a consequence (so it is said) of under-torqued heads from new. Thing is though - and PH experts may have some input here - forced aspiration engines run lower compression ratios, so maybe this is not such an issue on the Turbos. Whatever, it's good practice to check coolant levels, rad caps and thermostat function, so do that.

Must be driven with rolled up jacket sleeves

Weighing it all up, you've got to wonder why your man is selling, given that he bought it in the first place and is therefore (presumably) a Supra fan. Perhaps his circs have changed. Maybe he got fed up with the fuel consumption, which in all honesty is unlikely to exceed the low to mid-20s.

Or maybe he simply got bored. We all like a change, as Shed has said on so many occasions to Mrs Shed. Unfortunately, despite his replacing her hearing aid batteries with Duracell Ultras, there is so far no sign of her taking the hint.

Here's the ad.

No Modifications
Mechanically perfect
Hpi Clear
No rust whatsoever. Body in almost immaculate condition.
Stunning example of a classic Toyota Supra. This car needs to be seen to be appreciated.
Paperwork and receipts of all work carried out.
No Test Pilots, No tyre kickers only serious buyers.
Tax till December 14 mot till May 15
07508659654

[parabolica]

I've always liked the look of these, ever since playing the original Gran Turismo and figuring out it was the best car you could buy for your starter cash in Career mode

I do have a soft-spot of 80/90s Jap metal; will need to scratch the itch sometime soon.