Friday 17th August 2007

Shed Of The Week

Toyota Soarer 4.0 Coupe

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Now here’s something you rarely see on UK roads.

Yes its a Toyota, but don't let the badge fool you

You may actually be wondering if this is a Lexus or a Toyota. Well officially, the third generation (Z30) Soarer is a Lexus SC – 300 or 400, depending on what’s cooking under the bonnet. The sleek coupe was designed by Toyota in the early 90s to launch a new luxury division outside of Japan known as Lexus. Anyone know how these ‘Lexi’ got on?

The car remained on sale in Japan as a Toyota and both versions only reached UK shores via grey importers. Finding one therefore, is a suitably tricky job. Finding a well kept one is even

Look at that interior! You want it, don't you?

harder, which is why the office went all wide-eyed at the sight of this 1991 Toyota-badged version.

At £1,000 it hits our shed budget on the nail, and offers both a refined a fairly rapid driving experience. The 4.0-litre V8 was only available with a four-speed automatic, but this was quick to function and fairly intuitive. Thanks to Toyota build quality, mechanicals lasted forever too. Don’t be fooled by this car’s gallactical mileage, we reckon it probably has the legs to do at least another 100k. And have you ever seen a cleaner cabin than this?

Exclusivity doesn’t have to cost the earth either – a lot of this car’s suspension, brakes and engine parts were shared with the MkIV Supra, making them relatively easy and inexpensive to source. Go on admit it, you’re running out of excuses aren’t you?

4.0-litre V8 provides plenty of poke

Source: www.autotrader.co.uk

1991 H Reg Toyota Soarer 4.0 Coupe (trade)

220,000 miles, Automatic,GREEN

2 Doors, Automatic, Coupe, Petrol, 220,000 miles, Metallic Green. airconditioning, power steering, Radio CD, Service history, ABS, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Alloy wheels, Central locking, Cloth upholstery, Driver airbag, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Electrically adjustable seats, Head restraints, Park distance control, Rear headrests. THIS CAR IS IN IMMACULATE CONDITION, DOES NOT USE OIL AND DRIVES LIKE A DREAM. £1,000

[Road_Terrorist]

Damn that is good value

[sprinter885]

Road_Terrorist said:

Damn that is good value

[Panayiotis]

If only it was the turbo 6 version, those things are animals with a simple bit of tinkering, comfy too

[smele]

Parts and Availablity come to mind. But looks like a lot of shed for the money. Ideal for drifting.

[ronaldinho]

Worth buying if you're a Hibs fan!

[Bizzle]

I used to own a 2.5ltr turbo manual one.
Really good car and i enjoyed driving it. Had a good 400hp and was a really great car. As drift cars, they are really good for high speed stuff, but because of there weight (god damn there heavy) they are slow to change direction and make any drifting in 2nd gear very hard work indeed.

Original Factory manuals are hard to find but usualy very well kept. The 1jz-gte engine is faultless and highly reliable - 400-500hp is very do-able on a standard bottom end. Parts are easily available from toyota and because they are japanese, not silly prices.

[paulpsz008]

Who put 220K on a 4.0L !!!!

I bet he's on first name terms with a few petrol station attendants?

[Tinohead]

smele said:

Parts and Availablity come to mind. But looks like a lot of shed for the money. Ideal for drifting.

OP said:

Exclusivity doesn’t have to cost the earth either – a lot of this car’s suspension, brakes and engine parts were shared with the MkIV Supra, making them relatively easy and inexpensive to source

[markh450]

anyone else think those back lights are straight off a 968?

[Kieran'07]

I've always like these and thought of getting one a couple of years ago, but last time I checked the insurance expensive being an import, over £1k!

[imfinlay]

"Gallactical"

[mackie1]

paulpsz008 said:

Who put 220K on a 4.0L !!!!

I bet he's on first name terms with a few petrol station attendants?

Pah! A puny engine!

[flattotheboards]

quite ugly but very cheap for what it is and you put put plenty more miles on this thing.

[emicen]

Tinohead said:

smele said:

Parts and Availablity come to mind. But looks like a lot of shed for the money. Ideal for drifting.

OP said:

Exclusivity doesn’t have to cost the earth either – a lot of this car’s suspension, brakes and engine parts were shared with the MkIV Supra, making them relatively easy and inexpensive to source

The active suspension fitted to the Soarer is not cheap if it goes wrong and has feck all in common with the supra. Engine commonality one the 300 with the NA 2JZ is fair enough, but not on the 4.0, rare 4.3 or 2.5TT.

"Both versions" in the article would actually be 4 engine variants.

[cptsideways]

mackie1 said:

paulpsz008 said:

Who put 220K on a 4.0L !!!!

I bet he's on first name terms with a few petrol station attendants?

Pah! A puny engine!

They are surprisingly efficient, will manage 30+ mpg on the motorway, good for 150mph+ too

The Twin Turbo 6 pot though is a different beast alltogether, these have to be the bargain performance cars of the century.

[cptsideways]

Must add the 2.5 & 3.0 variants are JZ engines which share most service parts with Supras. The chassis on all the Soarer's is near identical to a Mk4-5 Supra certainly is the same for suspension parts or fitment of.

[gareth_r]

emicen said:

The active suspension fitted to the Soarer is not cheap if it goes wrong and has feck all in common with the Supra. Engine commonality on the 300 with the NA 2JZ is fair enough, but not on the 4.0, rare 4.3, or 2.5TT. "Both versions" in the article would actually be 4 engine variants.

Since only 873 of the active suspension V8 model (UZZ32) were made, that's hardly likely to be an issue. The air suspension version (UZZ31) is the most common of the V8s, but if the worst comes to the worst, the air shocks can be replaced with conventional coils and dampers (from a Supra if you want).
By and large, you don't have to worry about engine spares on any variant, because you won't need them, and service parts are no problem.
There was no 4.3 version of this Soarer.

paulpsz008 said:

Who put 220K on a 4.0L !!!! I bet he's on first name terms with a few petrol station attendants.

Remember that at least a proportion of that 220,000 is in kilometres.

Edited by gareth_r on Friday 18th January 16:54

[beasto]

Handsome as an executive briefcase.

Still looks good 16 years later.

Yes please!

[Miguel]

A few months back, Autocar ran an article on buying and running an old, cheap luxo barge, including MB S series, BMW 7, Lexus LS400, and probably Jag XJ and RR/Bentley something or other. They dubbed the LS400 "bomb-proof."

Miguel

[Miguel]

markh450 said:

anyone else think those back lights are straight off a 968?

I didn't see the resemblance till you mentioned it. The 968 was introduced after the Soarer/SC. As a matter of fact, this Soarer is a 91. The 968 wasn't in production then. Maybe it's the 968's lights that are straight off a Soarer.