TOYOTA SUPRA 3.0i

Year of manufacture 1989 Recorded mileage 46,000 Asking price £18,250 Vendor Anderson Historic, Woodchurch, Kent; 07899 796515; andersonhistoric.com

WHEN IT WAS NEW

Price £19,871 Max power 201bhp Max torque 187lb ft 0-60mph 7.7 secs Top speed 135mph Mpg 19

There is a quiet mastery of build inherent to 1980s Toyotas that sidesteps plush materials or outright performance. The interior of this 1989 Supra is a sea of grey, contrasting only with the Tv-screen static of the seat covers, but there are pleasingly crisp details, from the dashboard strakes that line up with the passenger-side air vent to the raked, single-moulding binnacle set within a slightly questionable ‘leather’ dash-top. It’s a similar story with the parts-bin switchgear, which is never fancy but always neatly fitted, and instead of rich aromas of wood veneers and leather, there are just plasticky notes over polyester: these cars even smell of mass precision manufacturing.

It’s not the 231bhp turbo, but the twin-cam, 3-litre straight-six still makes a healthy 201bhp and, aided by Toyota’s ‘Acoustic Control Induction System’, a fat chunk of torque. There’s also the nostalgia of this 7M-GE unit being the last in an engine line that, in its early days, powered the 1967-’70 2000GT. Maybe, then, you can forgive it being a little raspy at the top end.

Softer-sprung than its try-hard turbo sibling, the A70 3.0i would be the perfect way to cruise around, revelling in the slick operation of a car built when Toyota was ready to step up into the big league. This pristine, 46,000mile showstopper is still glossy and unmarked. Anderson Historic acquired it in 2020 and recommissioned it after a decade of sparing use: since 2015 it had covered just 904 miles; from 2010, only another 6357. A set of new tyres and a main-dealer service got it ready for renewed enthusiast use.

Paul Anderson describes the car as “a nine out of 10”, adding that there are very few still remaining in this condition. “All the mechanicals work well, the electrics work, including the air-con, and the suspension and steering are perfectly balanced,” he says. “It drives as good as it looks.”

It ought to drive extremely well, then. The signature waistline strip that wraps around the front with sidelights, indicators and a floating ‘Toyota’ script adds the sporty dynamism you would expect of plagiarising Ferrari’s Berlinetta Boxer. That said, the generic coupé profile, flat bonnet and unusual, short-lattice wheels can only be credited to Toyota. The company was more adventurous with its lozenge-shaped A80-generation successor, buoyed by the success of the new Lexus brand and millions of Corollas, but the chance to acquire this remarkably tidy A70 model has a quietly compelling appeal.

SUMMARY

CHOSEN BY Aaron Mckay

FOR Remarkable condition; main-dealer history

AGAINST A lot of money for an unloved Supra

WHY SHOULD I BUY IT? To remember a time when Toyota was approaching the top of its game