There sometimes exists a rare alignment wherein a car is sought after because of its nameplate and due to the driving experience it promises to its occupants. The Toyota Supra is such a car whereby its appearance alone can encourage buyers to raise their bidding paddles when one comes up for grabs, with its low stance and chunky wheels and fenders capturing what made the 80s so great. Throw in a silky-smooth inline six and you have a recipe for greatness. Find this clean 1985 Toyota Supra here on eBay with bids to $9,400 and the reserve unmet.
This is an MK2 Supra, or the second generation model. It was clearly a child of the 80s, as it seemingly rolled together all of the popular styling cues into one racy package. The flares and spoilers and body decals were as synonymous with the Supra’s styling as were the factory alloy wheels which remain one of the best OEM designs ever made. When the sidewalls on the tires have bright white letters still plainly visible, the car stands out even more. Sometimes, they can stand out for having prodigious amounts of rust, but that’s not the case here.
The bucket seats in a Supra of this vintage are some of the best in the business. Toyota was quietly building a reliable fleet of sports cars throughout the 80s, and they almost always had some of the most supportive seats you could find in a high-revving hot hatch or a coupe like this in the grand touring tradition. I once found a set of these buckets in maroon leather in a junked Supra that I sold for a quick $400 profit on eBay within a few hours of pulling them; I’d encourage you to do the same if you know of a decent sit hiding somewhere.
The seller claims the Supra runs well with the only outstanding mechanical need being what sounds like a weeping oil pan gasket. The tires are said to be new and a replacement set of headlight washer jets will be included with the sale. The big deal here is the clean, rust-free body, as the mechanical bits are generally hard-wearing and able to withstand years of neglect without complaint. Fortunately, this Supra is in the sort of condition that indicates it’s been looked after. I won’t be surprised if this one reaches $15,000 with relative ease.
IMHO These were always the Randy little nephew to the 2000GT, a more affordable rendition of what a fast interstate car would interpret to be from Toyota.
Goes to show, sometimes you hit the bullseye then sometimes you can’t even cut the paper…
The 2000gts’ are very rare these days and are priced in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. We had a Celica gt that was a fun car to drive. Glwta.9
Nice car. Raced one with a turbo not sure which generation or year at Great lakes drag away with a 67 Impala wagon 396 325hp and a 3:07 gear just for fun.I knew he’d beat me but He wooped me!
Turbos were MK3 beginning in 1986.
Love these cars! Would like to know if this one is an automatic or standard transmission.
In the ad details it says manual….
Manual. The best kind!
As I recall, all of the P Types are manual. If you wanted automatic, you had to get the L Type. This is a P Type. L Types have the narrow body and smaller tires with different rims.
I’m not sure this is true across all years. Someone correct me if i’m wrong.
I’ve had 2 of the MK2 Supras. Great all-around cars. I also have a Gbody El Camino in which I installed the buckets seats from a wrecked Mk2. Perfect Burgandy color match.. the best seats I’ve had in the Camino.
I still can’t believe that Toyota stopped making this car, tho they did put a not good motor into the last gen. One would think teenagers today(espec females) would love one of these – but there were no smart phones when this car was last made.
Back in the day, you would very likely see a pretty girl driving a Celica.
In 1985 I went to Longo Toyota in CA to buy this exact car. It drove great especially with the 6 cylinder. Mentioned to the salesman that I was treating myself to a new car before I got married. He strongly suggested that I drive the new Cressida, the same chassis, engine and transmission, but a 4 door instead of a hatchback. He said he had to sell his sports car when his first child was born. Drove the Cressida and couldn’t believe that he was right! Opted for the Cressida and drove that car for 22 years and > 200K miles and two kids!! Not one issue with that car. Wish they still made these!!
Smart move. I treated myself to a Z/28 just before getting married. Nice car, but had to be sold pretty quickly when the first baby arrived. Ended up leasing an Audi A4 wagon.
Another great car but just missing the 6 cylinder engine!!
I’m surprised you didn’t just trade for another sporty camaro with 6 cyl or base v8 with automatic – so the bride could drive too ..
like the couple in the base Camaro below who have a baby – just don’t put the baby where this one is in this commerical – today! You’ll probably wind up in jail & maybe lose custody!
Note all 3 camaros have wheel covers! …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhmI1P7k5ro
Also, Samantha, Darren & little Tabitha got along just fine with a camaro too. Again, the little one does not belong here! – today …
https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/i230234.jpg
Joe: I agree with you. We could have kept the Camaro and a baby seat in the back would have worked. It would have been very impractical to load up the baby and all of the associated gear in that car.
The 6 speed was no problem because my wife loved driving it – I had to fight her for the keys, LOL!
The Audi was a great substitute, actually. It was also a manual and I chipped the 1.8 four and that turned it into a sleeper beast.
A 98 – 02 Camaro SS convertible is on the short list as the next fun car to be parked in our garage. Affordable droptop fun!
“….a replacement set of headlight washer jets will be included with the sale.” No, headlight ‘whiskers’. The rubber pieces just in front of the headlights. This is a very nice example and came from the Gulf States Toyota area as evidenced by the hockey stick stripe that they were known to put on at the dealers down there. Whereas most NY area examples are swiss cheese with rust, this doesn’t appear to have been repainted or restored at all attesting to its Florida origins. The only rust issue I see beginning is at the rear spoiler mounts on each side of the hatch. Very common and very fixable at this stage. Nearly 190k miles may keep it from reaching the predicted $15k, but it is certainly a fine driver with potential for excellence!
It’s just a 1985 Supra. With the bidding nearing five digits you would think the seller had a Skyline or something. I guess no matter what kind of car it is, once it hits 20-30 years old the prices suddenly start going insane.
Not good photos on this vehicle (The usual on Ebay) Would’ve liked to have seen some dash/instrument panel and console photos.