QOTD: All in the Family?

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Top brass at TTAC had a chance to sample the new Supra last week at Summit Point Motorsports Park in West Virginia. You’ll read about it on these virtual pages shortly.

Cars like the new Supra provide a chance to mull an age-old question: in the car world, is it better to share parts of a family tree or not exist at all? Your author has strong opinions on this matter, those of which that are printable will be explored after the jump.

In the Supra’s case, I think it’s okay. Keyboard forum warriors who rarely step foot outside their mother’s basement, let alone turn a wheel at Summit Point or are even remotely able to afford $50k for a new Supra, will wail into their DnD pillow cases that this new Toyota has too much BMW lineage and isn’t worthy of the Supra name.

Your humble author disagrees. In a world filled with milquetoast crossovers and beige sedans, the appearance of a Supra — any Supra — with more than a modicum of sporting intentions is a Very Good Thing, even if it does share parts with a car from another marque. Same goes for the 86.

Mark me down as a fan. Disagree? Fire away in the comments. Just be sure to read Tim’s Take when it appears.

[Image: Toyota]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

More by Matthew Guy

Comments
Join the conversation
10 of 50 comments
  • Chuckrs Chuckrs on May 13, 2019

    I owned both a Saab 9000 turbo and an Alfa 164S. These used the same Lambda platform, but different engines, transmissions and suspensions. Despite the common platform, these cars were worlds apart in handling and feel. I have a hunch that will be true for the Supra and Z4 also, even using a common engine. I'm sure there will be comparos by the car mags and blogs when both are available. +1000 on the manual transmission option. They are a great theft deterrent device ;).

    • Vulpine Vulpine on May 13, 2019

      Just to elaborate, chuckrs, Mazda and Fiat share an identical platform to build the Miata/124. For all that the Miata is faster, reviewers claimed the Fiat 124 was more fun. Additionally, the two look like completely different cars from the outside, despite sharing a number of body panels and an almost identical interior.

  • Chuckrs Chuckrs on May 13, 2019

    I owned both a Saab 9000 turbo and an Alfa 164S. These used the same Lambda platform, but different engines, transmissions and suspensions. Despite the common platform, these cars were worlds apart in handling and feel. I have a hunch that will be true for the Supra and Z4 also, even using a common engine. I'm sure there will be comparos by the car mags and blogs when both are available. +1000 on the manual transmission option. They are a great theft deterrent device ;).

  • B534202 B534202 on May 13, 2019

    I see that Toyota steering wheel in those youtube videos and think maybe they should include a BMW part there as well ...

  • Noble713 Noble713 on May 13, 2019

    I've NEVER understood the hate for car companies parts sharing. Same thing with cross-brand engine swaps. The subject is like shining a blacklight on the irrationality of the car community. So many people are emotional, tribal zealots. I don't see it in other performance communities, like e-sports. I think anybody saying "I only put Dell parts in my Dell gaming rig" would get laughed out of a LAN party. Most people are running the PC equivalent of a Factory Five GTM: insane performance that they've hand-built in their garage, and no two are alike. Or imagine some security contractor who only puts government-issue magazines in his Colt rifle....meanwhile everyone else is switching to Magpul PMAGs and looking at the brand-zealot like "You're funeral if that crap jams. Hell maybe my funeral too -_-" Standardizing parts, at the very least certain standard form factors for components (what's the mechanical/drivetrain equivalent of USB, SATA, PCIe, DIMM slots, etc?) across the industry sounds like a good opportunity to reduce costs via economy of scale in mass production.

    • See 4 previous
    • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on May 14, 2019

      Also, this isn't parts sharing...this is very close to badge engineering.

Next