learn me celica supras

I'm thinking of picking one of these up. What do I need to know about em? The good the bad and the ugly

Thanks yall

a little help here - which year/generation?

Didn't we only get them from around 80-85.5?

I think glueguy might not have picked up on the "Celica" part - IIRC that was only used for the first generation (actually first two generations) of the Supra. The one that essentially was a Celica with a nose job before it evolved into its own platform.

My guess would be rust, rust and more rust.

First gen, not sure if the US ever got that:

Second gen:

US got both, although the first gen are pretty rare to find anymore. They were not that great at the time. Basically a stretched (IIRC 6 inches in front of the firewall) Celica with a heavy 6 cylinder thrown in. Most reviewers thought the Basic Celica was a better handling car. Toyota was trying to compete with the 280z and failing in performance terms. Build quality was better, but considering the dissolving character of the sheet metal on a 280z, "build quality" is a relative term.

Rust...

And electrical connectors that are NLA and disintegrate when disturbed. Nothing available from the aftermarket to restore the interior or dash. Very few used parts available either.

In other words a perfect GRM option!

There were two second gen versions. The one pictured is the "P" or performance version. The two versions were mechanically the same but the P added fender flares and other "aero" bits and wider wheels and tires. The other version was the "L" or Luxury version. Almost impossible to find in decent condition and nobody loved the L version.

RUN AWAY. I owned an '80 from about 1990-95. It will be full of fiddly breaky parts that are NLA and don't cross-reference to the Celica and you'll never find one in a yard at this point.

It ate head gaskets like chewing gum, and the head was under a berkton of plumbing and vacuum lines. It is also an iron block and aluminum head so it cracked the head at least once. Last time we just put a Cressida engine in it because it was easier than replacing the head.

The wiper motor is specific to the Supra, it WILL break irreparably, and even in 1993 when there were plenty of them junkyards, they ALL had the wiper motor gone.

The rear discs have a weird screw-in piston self adjuster that I guarantee is fused solid. Not sure my car even had working rear brakes the last year I drove it.

It had a live axle and handled like crap on all but the smoothest pavement. Any spirited launch generated epic wheelhop.

That being said, it had plenty of torque which actually made it fun to drive. And although it was a rolling pile and I had the thermostat drilled out to try and keep the head on the block, the damn thing had over 250k on it when I sold it for $450 cash. And the seats were pretty comfortable.

I've always thought a second-gen Celica Supra with a 2JZ swap would be cool.

Yeah, I always thought the second Celica Supra was a great looking car but, like the Celica itself, I've heard it never really had the power/handling/brakes to back up the racy image. I can't really tell you what a really healthy one would drive like because I've only driven worn-out, tired examples (well, one example) but I would describe the car as something like a Toyota Ford Thunderbird at 7/8ths scale.

The Mk2 is much more supported than the unloved Mk1; they are not incredibly fast out of the box, but they are tough and you can cram a decent amount of boost into the 5M engine. I am actually picking up the very same Mk2 that was my first car a decade ago next weekend...should be interesting.

I had an 85. I LOVED it, but it was slow and pretty thirsty. I always wanted one with the TT engine out of the MKIV.

The second gen cars are worth having. They are GT cars though, not sports cars--- think Japanese 6 series BMW. With a manual trans, they did 0-60 in about 8 seconds or so, and the 1/4 mile in about 16 seconds with a top end of about 120-130. (got a little faster as the production run went on) When new, the seats were some of the best ever fitted to a production car. Unfortunately, the seat material doesn't hold up well (cloth or leather) so finding non-worn out seats is tough. They used the same straight six found in the Cressida--- nice smooth engine with decent torque.

They are great highway machines, and I think the looks have aged very well. As mentioned, the "L" models had no flares, narrower wheels, crappier seats and a goofy digital dash---- the "P" model is the one to have-- and way easier to find.

Cool machines. I spent a lot of my youth in them, as my Dad had a 83, and followed it up by buying the last of the line---- 85.5 ( with the dual spoiler)

I've kinda wanted one of the 2nd gens for a while now. Sucks to hear that obtaining parts is such a PITA now. Though, I've heard the same about Mk1 MR2s, and I haven't had much a problem with a little patience and scrounging. That said, I'm not sure about the production numbers, but I'm pretty sure the MR2 was built in much higher numbers.

Karl - I somehow never realized you had one of those. Looks clean!

I want a blue and silver two tone with the blue leather. That's the combo my 85 was and I really liked it.

Sky_Render wrote: I've always thought a second-gen Celica Supra with a 2JZ swap would be cool.

With the prerequisite 50 shot of Nas.

I had an '84 P-type for about 3 years about 10 years ago. I bought it for $1600 from one of those "Buy here, pay here" car lots. It had lived a very hard life. It had 180k miles on it when I got it. It was fun to drive in anger. The 5MGE made great noises through the Pacesetter Monza catback I put on. I bought it to fix it up but parts were pretty much nonexistant. Forget about finding interior trim. It had massive fuel issues (tank was full of scale and rust). It go so bad that I had to park it as I couldn't drive it for more than 5 minutes before it would die. I just didn't have the time or ability at that point in my life to fix it. I ened up selling it to a guy who had a cherry '85 P-type for $500. I still miss it sometimes. I wanted to swap in a 7MGTE eventually but that never came to fruition. Sadly, I could only find a few pictures of it.

I still troll Craigslist for MKIIs from time to time.

I'm sad to hear that these were generally such crappy under powered cars. I've always wanted to own one of these too.

I've seen a few 7MGTE swapped cars, apparently it's a straight forward swap and would pursue that before 2JZ.

2JZ swaps are generally pointless bro or non-enthusiast internet guy points. 7MGTE is a FAR more common swap to this, i've seen multiple cars already done for sale on the celica supra forums.

I'm sad to hear that these were generally such crappy under powered cars. I've always wanted to own one of these too.

It's an early 80s cars, before the malaise left the auto industry. Everything is underpowered until the mid/late 80s. That's when the awesomeness begins.

Just thinking out loud... how blasphemous would it be to drop a slightly tweaked 22R into a Gen II P type Supra? I'm sure it would have a better weight balance and cure the thirsties, but would it have enough power?

kanaric wrote: It's an early 80s cars, before the malaise left the auto industry. Everything is underpowered until the mid/late 80s. That's when the awesomeness begins.

True. I guess that's all part of the challenge of owning an old car anyway. We love and hate them for their inconveniences and idiosyncrasies.

I picked up a bone stock 84 VW Rabbit GTI with 75K on it this summer and I love it for everything it is and it isn't. There's something great about driving an old(er) car like that in it's brutal simplicity. No AC, No PS, No Cruise Control, No Traction Control, No Navi, No iPod integration, etc. When I look at the dash the only other controls besides the radio and the heater is the hazard and defrost switch! When I'm driving the GTI I'm putting my focus on driving so much more then any other car I've owned and I love that feeling.

A 1uz swap would cure it all.