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The 7M-GTE conversion! Custom intercooler.
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PhotoShop artistry courtesy of Stephen Sidman
('83 P-type).
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"Best of Show - Mild" trophy winner at SILV 2002.
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"Best In-Car Entertainment" trophy winner at SILV 2005.
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Dyno print-out from Supras Invade Las Vegas 2004
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History:
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When the second-generation Supra was released in 1982, I absolutely loved the design of the car and decided that I just had to have one. However, I was a
student at the time and had no way of scraping up the kind of cash I'd have needed to acquire one. So, I waited. Some subtle design changes were made for the
1984 model year - "wrap-around" turn signals in the front, minor tail-light alterations, the rear hatch's color matched to the rest of the car (it had been black
previously), and some improvements in the interior design (including the scrapping of that ridiculous 85mph (135kph) speedometer once mandated here in the US by
some clueless legislator). I liked the car even more with these changes. However, I still couldn't afford one.
By 1985, however, I finally had a "real" job, and with my tax refund in 1987 I bought this car, an '84 with about 40,000 miles, in pristine condition, for
about half of what it originally sold for two and a half years before. Interestingly, it came with the L-type interior panels and seats, though it is a P-type
car; apparently a small number of these were made available for the 1984 model year. I would have rather had the P-type driver and front passenger seats, as
they have a great lumbar support system and other features, but they came with a garish pin-stripe design which I don't much care for.
It became my daily driver for about ten years, until my return from a ski trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in early 1997, when I decided that I would no
longer subject the car to the yearly torture of snow chains. It's now my "fun" car, logging less than 3,000 miles per year...the daily beater and ski rack is now
a 1994 Ford Exploder 4x4, which isn't nearly as much fun to drive, but at least I no longer worry about parking-lot dents and damage from snow chains.
Most of the basic performance modifications above were added since mid-2002, after I discovered the Supra MkII owners' group/mailing list on the
'net. Check out CelicaSupra.com for more information. It had the 7M-GTE
transplant done in November, 2003. Thanks to John Nguyen for doing an excellent job of building up the motor, and to Dave Shepherd for a really professional install.
This car won one of the two "Best of Show" awards in the MkII class at Supras Invade Las Vegas 2002, and the "Best In-Car Entertainment" award at SILV 2005. |
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