AutoTrader Find of the Week: 1993 Toyota Supra is the Cure to Boredom

If a heavily-modified MK4 Supra remains your all-time dream car, this is probably the one to get.

A bourgeois statement you’ll often hear from automotive journalists around the water cooler is, “I am so over fast cars.” They’ll practically yawn it out of their mouths in an attempt to flex their elitist car enthusiast credentials — lest they be lumped in with the rest of us vroom-vroom commoners.

I’ve never known if this statement was sincere or not. To me, it always came off as false bravado. Because even when I've driven cars that I thought had too much power and were too unruly, undynamic, and difficult to control, I kind of loved them anyway. Even when a Redeye Hellcat once tried to legitimately murder me, I just couldn’t stay mad at it.

Saying, “I’m bored of fast cars” sounds like “I’m bored of sex” to my ears. Huh?! How?!

However, I will admit there is one car (just one) that was so ferocious and untamable in its acceleration, that driving it made me seriously question just how into “fast cars” I really was.  That car was an MK4 (A80) Toyota Supra.

A friend of mine from high school had managed to scoop up a JDM-spec variant before prices on those went berserk. Back in 2020, I had a brand new MK5 (A90) Supra as a press vehicle for a week, and so for an afternoon, my friend and I decided to see how the two compared (especially given the controversial nature of the BMW-derived A90 Supra).

However, unlike my loaned press vehicle, my friend’s Supra was far from stock. It had an enormous single turbo and it shot flames out of its exhaust, the works. Exact power was unknown, though we estimated somewhere in the neighbourhood of 550 horsepower, and after grenading the transmission later that day, that number seemed about right.

Accelerating a big single-turbo 2JZ-powered Toyota Supra is exactly like what you’ve seen on YouTube. You put your foot down, and nothing really happens … until you’re hit with a tsunami of power. It’s like taking a right hook to the face you didn’t see coming. Out of nowhere, all of the sudden, you’re wrestling for traction and slamming gears faster than you can think, all while the car feels like it's trying to escape your grasp — like an angry dog straining against a leash, barking its head off and frothing at the mouth.

It’s not just the power or even the rate of acceleration — it’s just how violent, chaotic,and downright uncontrollable the damn thing is.

I handed back the keys to my friend with my hands shaking. No car before or since has put that level of fear into me. And it is the only time I have ever seriously questioned whether I had fun going fast. I eventually concluded the experience was a little like going into a haunted house. It is fun, but could I really live there?

If you are somebody who always dreamt of living in a haunted house, this pristine 1993 Toyota Supra Turbo listed on AutoTrader and offered for sale by Empire Auto in Montreal, Que., is probably the car of your dreams.

And this really is a dream car because the asking price is $140,000 USD. That seems like bonkers money, but consider that this car is 32 years old. We are further removed today from this performance icon than people were from something like a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T when this Supra was brand new. When something like that Charger turned 32, prices easily crested above six digits. So that’s just where we are now with ‘90s JDM. It is officially the new ‘60s muscle.

But beyond the nostalgia and rarity, this is a particularly good example of an MK4 Supra. For starters, it's the North American-spec. So not only is the steering wheel in a familiar place, but this is one instance where North America actually got the better car — with superior turbos and injectors upping base horsepower on the Turbo-spec cars. 

As an original Turbo-spec car, this Supra is equipped with the very desirable six-speed manual transmission. It’s also a targa car, which may disappoint some purists, but satisfy those looking to fulfill their The Fast and The Furious fantasy.

Other than the targa roof, these are all the most desirable options for MK4 Supras: North American model, turbo, six-speed manual. But then there’s the level of modification this car has undergone, and it’s just about everything you’ve fantasized about when it comes to building a Supra. 

The list of modifications itself is too long to list. Though Empire has been diligent enough to break it all down on their website.

The headlines are this: a completely rebuilt engine and new turbo in 2018, complete with standalone engine management; a rebuilt transmission and new clutch in 2019; tucked wires and a shaved engine bay and bumpers; a complete chassis overhaul including TRD mounts, widebody fenders, and aero; and three-piece wheels from DPE. Oh, and fresh paint. 

The modifications list alone is worth the asking price here.

The car is rated at 572 horsepower at the wheels, making 20 psi of turbo boost — which is about what my buddy’s terror-mobile made, but I’m willing to bet this car is about a million times more confidence-inspiring and well-sorted. Certainly, 315/25R19 rear tires would help.

Still, the body remembers, and I can’t help but feel a little sinking feeling in my stomach at the thought of a big turbo Toyota Supra.

But if I’m honest, that feeling is what makes me want one all the more. Beyond the iconography and the fantastical premise of owning a Supra that’s been this heavily modified, the terror is kind of the point. If you’re bored of fast cars, maybe it’s not necessarily the speed part that’s boring.

“I’m bored of spicy food,” say the people who have only ever tried Frank’s Red Hot.

If you stop doing things that scare you or feel out of your comfort zone, you’ll stop enjoying life.

That’s why kids will bombard you at gas stations when you own this car. Not because they know The Fast and The Furious. Not because it’s rare. But because driving a modified Supra makes you much, much braver than the guy in the Ferrari.