 y 1982 Toyota Supra. The colour is terra cotta. I bought this car in the early June 2004. The car was in New Brunswick and had about 2K put on the car since the guy bought it two years before. He was the third owner.
The second owner was a young guy from the area that did much of the body work. The car is coded wrong to have these rims, a wing and wheel moldings. So these were factory but added later.
The original owners were an older couple. They did not drive it much and kept it in very good shape. The wife sold the car after her husband died.
The third owner's wife hated the car and thought it was much too sporty for her husband so she forced him to sell. I wish she would have mentioned this on the phone earlier. Had I known I would have shaved some more off the price of the car (we know my ability to negoiate a better deal). All I can say is that when these cars hit the streets they were top of the line for Toyota. Today they can be had for rock bottom prices. The car handles like it is new. The front end is very tight and the car has enough get up and go. There is some fading in the paint, two very very small spots of rust starting on each door (about the size of a dime), as well there is a little wear on one corner of the drivers seat. Other then that the car is great. It is a very nice driver on the highway.  This picture is one I found on the net. I will get a copy of mine soon enough. This is close enough for argument sake. 
Converting 1985 dollars to todays dollars. I use the beer, cigarette and gas economic scale
By 1982 Toyota had learned from the ho-hum handling (and buyer demand) of the MKI. All-around performance became a priority with upgrades including four-wheel independent suspension, optional 14X7" alloy wheels shod with super-wide (for the time) 225/60R14 tires, and an optional limited slip differential. The same 5M block was used as in the 1981 Celica Supra, but had a different head allowing for a second overhead cam (hence the change in engine designation: "5M-GE" DOHC verses "5M-E" SOHC). Acceleration was on par with the competition, delivering 0-60 in 8.4 seconds and the quarter mile in 16.6 seconds at 83.7mph. It was also $900 less than the 280Z and offered better cornering, braking, a quiet luxurious ride, and had a far superior build quality. With these changes, the MKII Celica Supra became an immediate hit winning Motor Trend's "Import Car of the Year" award. The MKII Celica Supra came in two variants: the P- and the L-type. The P-type was the performance model magazines editors drooled over. Available only with a manual transmission, this Supra could easily be distinguished from the L-type by the fender flares covering 7" wide wheels shod with 225/60R14 tires and it was usually fitted with the optional rear sunshade spoiler. The L-type luxury version came with 195/70R14 tires on special alloy wheels. Devoid of fender flares and the sunshade spoiler, the L-type did have several options not available on the P-type including a leather seat trim package, a digital electronic display, and the 4 speed automatic transmission. The car was working well. I took it over to the local service station and had work done to improve the timing and overall response. Soon after, and I beleieve unrelated, the motor developed a knock. The type of knock that tells you the motor has reached the end of it natural life. I had some choice to make. I could rebuild the motor or I could replace the motor. I decided to try and replace the motor but the choices were limited. I could replace it with a simialr year motor but this would mean I would staff with an older technology which was getting harder and hader to find parts. Then there was a option to replace the motor with a Japanese import. Apparently the japanese pull motors after 50,000K or so many years, regardless of condition, it is the law. They have warehouses full of motor. The problem here was if I wanted to upgrade to a newer year I would have to find a donor car for things like the wiring harness and computer. 2008 I decided to upgrade the car using a donor car .... I just had to find that car first. I opened the paper and there it was just outside of Bridgewater. About an hours drive. The problem was I did not want o pay that much. So I hummed and hawed for a months or so. He was asking $2000 for a 1988 rebuilt 3.0L 5 speed putting out about 275 horsepower. Finally after a few months I called. He said he would take $1500. This was a steal. I went on a Saturday to pick up the car. I drove it home. It shifted well and sounded great. It had lots of power. There was some smoke at start up which could be valve seals or a small leak in the head gasket.   The car body was not the greatest but I was not going to do much with that. The motor was rebuilt, according to the seller, about 20,000K ago. Which is possible. I also figured by the marks on the car and the missing mirror that the car may have found the ditch at some point ... which may explain why the owner was no longer with license. 2009-2011 Over the next year I did a ton of research on the work that would need to be done and the items that would be needed to complete the project. I first contacted Shawn in California and had a custom made sub-wiring harness made. Then I picked up the rest of the parts. This took me into 2010 where I took apart the interior of both cars. I was now ready to start. I picked my backyard mechanic Steve. Steve is actually a welder but I don't think there are many that have worked on toyotas as much as him. Without his knowledge this project would never have been finished. In the end I paid him a very reasonable sum to work on the car. The truth is that I did at least 50% of the work ... if not a little more. I did not mind. I looked at this like a mechanics course.   I was responsible for on hooking both motors and transmission and with his hoist we hauled them out of the two cars. I was now responsible for taking all the necessary brackets, hoses, mounts and whatever else was needed off one motor to make the 1988 motor fit into the 1982 body. This I did and we also discussed a lot of the options and solutions when we came into a problem. In the end it took 9 months to complete but after I swapped in a new fuel pump the car started and it sounded great.   The Spring of 2011 The car is now ready for the finishing touches and inspection. I will have to put back in the interior, get the car appraised and then register and inspect teh car for the road. I hope to have this done by the end of June. I will drive the car over the summer and work out and bugs, leaks, issues and so on. Then by the fall I hope to be looking at working on getting the car painted and the interior freshed up a little. I know the car will never be worth anything regardless of the work I do. Right now it is worth about $5000. I could put another $5000 into it and the car would still be worth about $5000. Still, I am not planning on selling the car any time soon.  e-mail me Last updated March 22, 2005 Other links: This old truck, 1974 Charger |