Toyota realized it had a problem. Datsun was enjoying some serious success with its six-cylinder Z-cars, and Toyota had no answer. It had a coupe and it had a six-cylinder engine, but not in the same car.
By 1978, Toyota came up with a modest reply. Toyota lengthened its Celica coupe by some…
I drove a 1979 Celica (five speed hatch back) for the second half of high school and all through undergraduate school.
It was only three years newer than my first car (1976 Camaro with a 250 C.I. straight six mated to a three speed automatic) but it felt 10 to 15 years more advanced.
I still think the best all around car for me is a small 2+2 front engine, rear drive hatchback...I know, I know BRZ/GR86 is my answer.
One thing...to totally take in the Supra's visual experience, it really needs to be stationary as the rims absolutely complete the esthetics.
My cousin bought one of these new. He's still got it, called Black Beauty.
Agreed that the stock wheels are a perfect match to the styling.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
The only wheel more appropriate is the deep dish StarQuest.
I remember back in the 90's when Reg Reimer had the 7M swapped one.
Reg used to be, maybe he still is, the Supra guru.
I was a mechanic at a Toyota dealer when these were new. I still love them.
They have some of the nicest seats; the pump up lumbar was awesome.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Yes, a 10/10 stock wheel setup. It would be a sin to swap them out.
In 1984 my mother bought a new Supra. Really weird and interesting is the car never was able to pass emissions inspection. The dealer said to bring it to them every time the inspection is due and they'll pass it. Apparently, a very small percentage of new cars won't pass for whatever reason. I think one cylinder had bad rings or something like that because it did seem to smoke more than it should have
I started doing gimmick rallies with a local club when I was in high school in my family's 1983 MX-63 Cressida (w/ factory 5 spd). Another rally competitor had an '84 Celica Supra. While both cars had the 5M-GE he swore that the Supra made more hp than my Cressida. On the rare occasion when we ended up lined up next to each other, I would walk him in a drag race every time. And my love for a sporty sedan was born.
With a bit of internet searching the engines look like the same spec (145hp), weight within 100lbs of each other, but the 0-60 and 1/4 mile times lean in favor of the Cressida in both cases (8.7/9.8 and 16.6/17.2).
And a +1 for the stock wheels on the Supra. They were perfect for the styling.
They even look good on a Lotus.
Very timely article for me. I'm heading out to pick up my A60 based project tomorrow.
Stampie said:Very timely article for me. I'm heading out to pick up my A60 based project tomorrow.
If you get tired of it by October, let me know 
In reply to eastsideTim :
I wouldn't wait on that text.
Stampie said:In reply to eastsideTim :
I wouldn't wait on that text.
Bummer - they were one of my favorite cars when I was in jr high/high school.
In reply to eastsideTim :
I don't think this is the A60 you are looking for.
Stampie said:In reply to eastsideTim :
I don't think this is the A60 you are looking for.
Ahh, cool! I remember that from the first challenge I went to!
I had one of these from 2008 until 2013. Fantastic car, had over 220k by the time I bought it, had been 6M swapped (3.0L bottom end, same as the 86.5-early 89 7M, but with the 5MGE head) and after a very thorough cooling system refresh, it served me well as a reliable daily driver when needed. I wasn't as good at troubleshooting things then, so I never did figure out why the cabin fan didn't work, that kind of took the fun out of winter driving a bit.
It was beyond slow at Wyoming altitude of 6500+ feet, but it was reliable. Quietest car I've ever owned, easily rivaling the LS400's we've had over the years. Handling was... interesting. Enter a corner on throttle, oversteer. Enter a corner on brake, oversteer. Minding your business, entering a corner off throttle and off brake, and... you guessed it, oversteer. Lots of fun, but you had to learn how to drive a car sideways a bit. Not angry, snappy oversteer, mind you, In all those years I never came terribly close to looping the car, which considering the amount of young and dumb that was behind the driver seat, was pretty impressive haha.
I miss it from time to time, but I was never gonna do anything particularly neat with the car. Tire options for those sweet stock wheels are extremely limited (they were 225/60/14, when is the last time you saw that size on a new tire???), and parts are... well, let's just say that new parts are largely impossible to come by. The stuff that makes it a car (consumables, drivetrain parts, etc) are obtainable, but the parts that make it a Supra... less so.
In reply to Appleseed :
Two of my favorite OEM wheels of all time are the Celica and the StarQuest.
My '85 Supra was one of the best cars I have ever owned. I grew up in a car auction and made my living that way until I was 42, so I owned a LOT of cars :-)
Rock-solid squeak-free body and no oil consumption, even at 100,000 miles. One of the last things I did with that car was my college graduation trip. I left Huntsville for a roadtrip with no itinerary and, seventeen days later, returned from a trip that took me to Sturgis, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, a particularly noteworthy college rodeo, Cour d'Alene, Victoria Island, Aspen, the Gulf Coast and back to Birmingham.
One of the best cars Toyota has ever made, thereofre one of the best cars ever made.
PS - Yamaha also developed the first Taurus SHO v6 and it was a glorious engine.
Appleseed said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
The only wheel more appropriate is the deep dish StarQuest.
Or my favorite, the 3 piece converted Love20bee wheels. Best of all worlds imo.
"but the most obvious distinction between the two models involved the headlights: The Celica Supra received traditional pop-ups."
what website did you rip this from? Have you guys even owned an early mk3 celica? It has pop up head lights, just like the mk3 Supra (also '82-85). Sorry, but I hold you guys to a higher standard of automotive reporting.
1 - for me, this will always be an A60:
2 - while I generally find the Japanese styling to be awkward, on some cars they did hit it right - the 240Z, Toyota GT... and the 2nd generation Supra is one of those (much better than the later A80 jelly-bean-with-a-handle model)
In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
You might be interested to know that Foose made this same design in larger sizes back in the late 2000's, I want to say. I definitely wasn't in the market for custom wheels like that (they weren't cheap) but if memory serves, they came in either 17 or 18" and were fairly wide too, to fill those factory flares nicely.
ROH Sniper wheels also look fantastic on these cars, if you can find a set.
In reply to Definitely gone now :
The irony being that the Mk3 Supra was 86.5-92 here in the US. =P
The Celica wasn't bad looking, but that stubby nose it received was unfortunate, when compared to the front of the Mk2 Supra.
After graduation in the Summer of '92, I drove my '85 Supra from Alabama to British Columbia and back. It was an amazing car and I would LOVE to have it back. I sold it with 135,000 miles and it was still stight, no rattles and no oil usage.
One day I will see a Supra with EQ controls set somewhere even close to a reasonable manner :-)
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