SUPRA HERO

Big muscles come as standard on the Mk4 Toyota Supra but you can flex them to 1000bhp if so inclined. John Evans says reliability is also one of its superpowers

Last month, a prototype of the Toyota Supra Mk5 wowed the crowds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a curtain-raiser to the main event when the production-ready model goes on sale in about 12 months.

The ensuing hullabaloo is sure to fan the flames of desire currently engulfing its predecessor, the Supra Mk4. Remarkably, this model ceased production 16 years ago, in 2002. But as far as we Brits are concerned, it died out in 1996, following three years of less-than-stellar sales. Only around 500 Mk4s found homes.

It wasn’t for want of trying. The Mk4’s 3.0-litre straight six engine was fed by two sequential turbochargers for improved flexibility and response. These UK Supras produced 326bhp and 325b ft, around 40bhp and 7lb ft more than Japanese-market cars, thanks to their larger and stronger turbos. Don’t let that put you off buying a grey-import, Japan-spec car, though, because its smaller and lighter turbos spool up faster, so the car feels no slower.

A choice of six-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearboxes, rear-wheel drive and a host of standard features – most notably, larger, 17in alloy wheels, beefier brakes, an additional gearbox oil cooler and an active rear spoiler – completed the UK picture. Now all those first buyers had to do was enjoy their Porsche-baiting Supras, which they did in their, er, hundreds.

Still, for the next six years, Toyota continued to punch out Mk4s for the rest of the world in increasingly varied forms. There were naturally aspirated ones with a choice of fivespeed manual and four-speed auto ’boxes, so-called Aerotop models with a removable roof (not to be confused with the optional Aerokit bodykit), and a bewildering range of trim variants, plus lots of options.

Incidentally, so you don’t confuse your genuine UK Supra from what is often referred to as a JDM (Japanese domestic market) car, the UK one has bonnet vents and headlight wash/ wipe, as well as those bigger brakes. UK cars also have leather trim, traction control, power windows and anti-lock brakes. Saying that, so do most JDMS, although their traction control system isn’t quite so good.

A major event during the Supra’s last years was the introduction, in 1998, of variable valve timing and injection (VVT-I) and, at the same time, the non-turbo SZ-R gained the turbo car’s six-speed manual ’box.

Today, the Supra Mk4, UK or JDM, appears to be in the cross hairs of every moneyed 40-year-old who ever lusted after one when it first came out. Most sought-after are rare UK turbo manuals. In fact, all good turbo manuals are becoming seriously expensive, and that’s before you consider spending a further £50,000 or so taking them to showroom condition and 1000bhp, as some enthusiasts are now doing courtesy of specialists such as SRD Tuning.

As next year’s new Supra hoves into view, now is the time to buy a Mk4 before prices vanish over the horizon.