Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1993 Toyota Supra RZ Mk4 Twin Turbo
Just c. 40, 648km from new and fitted with a full VeilSide body styling kit
Estimate
£50, 000 - £60, 000
Registration No: L105 WGH
Chassis No: JZAthe details below
MOT: April 2025
Just 40, 648km from new (24, 146 miles)
Imported from Japan in 1999 and used sparingly until dry storage with a private collector
Desirable 2JZ-GTE engine mated to a six-speed Getrag manual transmission
Fitted from nearly new with a full VeilSide body kit and split-wheel rims
A 'must have' for the JDM collector
Overseen by Isao Tsuzuki, work on the fourth generation (A80) Toyota Supra began in February 1989. Debuting at the Chicago Motor Show some four years later, the resultant 2+2-seater Coupe was a technological tour de force. Engaged in something of an ‘arms race’ with its fellow Japanese manufacturers and similarly keen to challenge the established European sports car hierarchy, Toyota created a machine which, in its ultimate twin-turbocharged guise, was very special indeed. The heart of the forced induction A80 was the mighty ‘2JZ-GTE’ straight-six DOHC 3. 0 litre engine boasting a ‘closed deck’ cylinder block, forged steel crankshaft and three-layer steel cylinder head gasket all of which meant that it was completely unstressed when developing 276bhp and 318lbft of torque in Japanese specification. So strong was the unit that tuners were able to add hundreds of extra horsepower whilst still retaining stock internals. Outputs of over 1, 000bhp were readily achievable and the most potent ‘2JZ-GTE’ was rated at 2, 041bhp! Little wonder then that so many owners have succumbed to the lure of modification.
The other boon of the ‘2JZ-GTE’ was its use of sequential turbochargers, which flattened the torque curve to such an extent that ninety percent of its peak was available from 1, 300rpm to 4, 500rpm. Today, we take nigh-on ‘lag free’ forced induction for granted, but in the early 1990s it was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engine which marked the flagship A80 as a stand-out design. Inspired by contemporary F1 practice, the Supra utilised a four-channel ABS braking system, enabling Car & Driver magazine to decelerate one from 70-0mph in forty-five metres (a record only surpassed by the Porsche Carrera GT hypercar in 2004). The provision of all-round independent suspension and Bilstein dampers provided ample grip, the Toyota recording 0. 98g on the skidpan. However, despite its excellence, the A80 remained something of a left-field choice in the UK with many buyers plumping for a (slower) Porsche 911 or Ferrari 348 instead. Thus, just 623 Supras were UK supplied from 1993-1996, with less than half those thought to have survived.
Supplied new to the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) in 1993 as a sought-after JZA80 Twin Turbo-charged Supra fitted with the desirable six-speed manual gearbox, chassis JZAthe details below was imported into the UK in 1999. The desirable full VeilSide body kit that was fitted in Japan, is complemented by a matching set of VeilSide five spoke split rims that are shod with Pirelli T0 tyres. Remarkably, the Twin Turbo-charged Coupé would cover only c. 40, 000km (c. 24, 854 miles) before import and before being registered in the UK as ‘L105 WGH’. Used very sparingly until it remained in the vendor’s private collection in a heated garage, it was maintained as-and-when required and now displays some 40, 648km (24, 146 miles). Now presenting as one of the best-preserved examples available and having escaped the usual drift circuits that these cars have become so highly sought-after for, ‘L105 WGH’ has been recently recommissioned with a new cam belt fitted in January 2024 plus a full fluids service, and will be offered complete with a copy of its original Japanese language service book.
We would agree with the vendor that the Supra presents ‘excellently’. The vendor has informed us that the engine itself remains standard aside from being fitted with an uprated HKS dump valve and HKS full exhaust system, which again, are both in excellent order. The vendor has advised the interior presents ‘excellently’ in the original duo-tone Black and Red colour combination and has an uprated sound system with an Alpine Head Unit, DDDrive Speakers with the customary Japanese TV and DVD player fitted. The vendor has also advised that the factory air-conditioning and electric seats operate ‘flawlessly’. Now presented for the first time on the UK market, this time-warp Supra is a fine example of what has become a truly investable modern classic, with values well on the rise in recent years and more and more interest gathering in them.
Now presented for the first time on the UK market, this time-warp Supra is a fine example of what has become a truly investable modern classic, with values well on the rise in recent years and more and more interest gathering in them; no doubt for their Ferrari eating qualities!
