#Supra

I swear it's a coincidence that I am bringing you this 1985 Toyota Supra after bringing you drive notes on a modern Toyota sports coupe.

Today we go to the Buckeye State for this 1985 Toyota Celica Supra.

Hey there B and B, I am going to level with ya a bit. This week has gotten off to a slow start in part because it's a holiday week and news is slow, in part because I was working on our podcast, and in part because I've been working on a long op-ed. So the QOTD is a bit late today.

Toyota will be abandoning the 2.0-liter GR Supra from the 2025 model year, making the 382-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder the default powertrain. That’ll be a disappointment to some drivers hoping to save some money. But the assumption is that most customers would have rather stepped up to the 3.0.

Today we go back to the '80s for this 1985 Toyota Supra.

Our team is busy grinding away in the blog mines, so we've been quiet this morning. We'll start your afternoon off with a treat: A clean-looking 1991 Toyota Supra.

In a bit of serendipitous timing, we saw earlier this week that a lot of 2023 Toyota Supra buyers are opting for the manual.

Having tested one earlier this year, I can see why.

Eager to continue showcasing its performance products sold under the Gazoo Racing banner, Toyota has introduced special editions of the GR Corolla, GR86, and GR Supra. Sadly, this makes them limited in nature and subject to dealer markups you might not want to deal with. However, if you’re looking for a collectible Toyota to keep in your garage for a few decades, these models are probably worth looking into.

Today's UCOTD is a straight-up project car.

There's no doubt from the ad that this 1982 Toyota Supra MKII needs help. Hence the low price of just $4,500.

In a story coming to you out of your author's hometown, we have a teacher who rented a Toyota Supra on Turo ... to set a land-speed record.

Any of you lot who’ve been claiming to be holding off buying a Supra simply because it doesn’t have a third pedal will need to break out your checkbooks. This morning, Toyota announced what was teased earlier this month: the Supra is getting a bonafide manual transmission.

Well, there’s still one out: It’ll be limited to models powered by the 3.0-liter engine.

Toyota engineers have been fairly adamant that there would eventually be a manual version of the Supra sports coupe since its formal introduction in 2019. By February of 2020, chief engineer Tetsuya Tada even confirmed that the car has been tested extensively with a clutch and choose-your-own-adventure gearbox. But Toyota explained that the automaker opted against having one at launch due to a desire to lead with the model yielding the best specs on paper. Toyota was also fretting over customers modifying vehicles, claiming the eight-speed automatic could handle far more torque before giving into physics and dismantling itself.

However, the automaker has recently begun teasing the Supra with a three-pedal setup over social media, later stating that an-all new manual transmission was indeed on the way for the coupe. But why now?

A common knock on the new Toyota Supra, besides its close ties to a certain BMW, is its lack of a manual transmission. Sure, there are umpteen reasons why a well-sorted automatic is (on paper) better than a stick – but the involvement and entertainment of a slick-shifting manual cannot be denied.

Now, well-placed rumors are suggesting Toyota is going to offer Supra buyers a chance to row their own gears.

In 1970, Toyota introduced the world to a pair of cars based on a new platform: The Carina sedan and the Celica sports coupe. The Carina was sold in the United States for just the 1972-73 model years and disappeared without a trace, but its Mustang-resembling Celica sibling proved to be a big sales hit on this side of the Pacific. With their truck-appropriate four-cylinder R engines, though, those U.S.-market Celicas of the 1970s were slow and tended to sound like a Hilux groaning up a mountain pass in Waziristan with a load of 15 Red Army-battling mujahideen fighters. So, Toyota widened and lengthened the second-generation Celica, yanked out the truck mill, and dropped in a straight-six. Thus was the Celica XX born in 1978, and when it arrived on our shores in the following year, it had a new name: Celica Supra!

Toyota is reportedly taking the performance aspects of its brand, which some of our readers might recall has been a little spotty, very seriously and has begun making plans to broaden the horizons of the Gazoo Racing (GR). The sub-brand, which seems to be gradually supplanting Toyota Racing Development (TRD), has introduced a slew of GR-badged models in Asia and Europe and will be affixing the title onto the returning 86 coupe. It has also slapped the performance designation onto the current-generation Supra here in North America, with no intention of stopping there.

According to Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota North America, the Japanese manufacturer wants to extend the GR treatment to even more models.