OK... but only since you asked so nicely.
WAY back in the day (before most of you reading this were even born) my mom was looking for a new car. She visited a few Toyota dealerships and decided on the Celica LB GT 5 Speed. At the dealership she finally decided to buy through they had a 79 Supra on the turntable in the showroom. I could immediately tell that this was different than what my mom was going to buy and tried to talk her into it. She didn't go for it though.
Fast forward a few years... in Jr High I was sketching a car from the top while bored in class. The sketch had pop-up headlights, an hour-glass figure, and a spoiler on the back that wrapped around a bit. Looking back on my memory of this sketch it HAD to be a MkIII - but this was years before the MkIII was announced.
Fast forward again to my first car (I didn't actually get my own car until I was 24). My dad finally gave in and gave me his 81 Ford Fairmont Futura - with the inline 6 - on the condition that I had to get it running (it had sat for about 5 years). Within about a month I had it running again and was free.
I started looking at cars to replace the Ford. I wanted something with an open top. Tried the Del Sol - but I'm 6'4" and that car wasn't comfortable for me. Tried the Celica convertibles - nice. Tried a Camaro but the build quality was CRAP. I was on every dealership's waiting list for a used Supra. I found one here and one there but they were all pretty ragged out.
Then one day while waiting for a friend to come over and help find my slight oil leak in the Ford I was scanning the paper and found a white 89 Turbo. On the way to the local auto store we stopped in at the dealership to check it out. White, 1989 Turbo, 5 Speed, Sport Roof, Leather, etc and it only had 50,500 miles. WOW! The sticker was marked at $11,999. I negotiated them down a bit but they had to pay off another loan I had so my final loan amount was right at what they had the car marked at originally.
After a LONG and drawn out process I drove the salesman back to my house to pick up the Ford. I never thought I'd see that car again until about 2 - 3 years later I was driving to work and saw it parked on the side of the road. WILD!
Two days after buying my Supra the clutch gave up - completely - and with my boss in the car and everything. I replaced the clutch with a reman'd one and it is still holding today more than 130,000 miles later.
Later that summer the Supra started dying sometimes when I came up to a light. The Supra ran so smoothly that I wouldn't even realize this until the light turned green and I tried to go. Each time this happened I was able to restart the car and proceed. After a day or two of this it got to the point where something would have to cool off before I could restart. I finally got that to the dealership and got it fixed (was either the CPS or the TPS - it has been so long ago that I've forgotten what it was). They also fixed my AC under the recall. WOOHOO!
Basic maintenance was up first - replaced all of the hoses (or so I thought) and just enjoyed the car.
Eventually started doing upgrades. Suspension, intake, exhaust, bov, dp, blah blah blah.
Then when going home one night after work I gave it a nice goose only to start spewing smoke out the back end. OH CRAP! Was it the dreaded BHG? When I came to a stop I found that the smoke was coming from the front. Got off the road at my friend's place and found that I had blown a coolant hose. I was able to limp home after refilling the system and got that fixed.
Many years later (2005) I was on my way home and blew another hose. That's the extent of the problems I've had with the car.
Did a retorque at ~74,000 miles. The Supra made 9 trips from Portland to Las Vegas + one trip from Portland to Salt Lake City. Numerous trips to Seattle or the beach. All without any problems.
I parked the Supra after SILV05 since I had just picked up a daily driver. It sat there without moving for ~2.5 years. When I finally picked up a new battery a week ago it fired right up on the third crank.
Time to get it back on the road again.
WAY back in the day (before most of you reading this were even born) my mom was looking for a new car. She visited a few Toyota dealerships and decided on the Celica LB GT 5 Speed. At the dealership she finally decided to buy through they had a 79 Supra on the turntable in the showroom. I could immediately tell that this was different than what my mom was going to buy and tried to talk her into it. She didn't go for it though.
Fast forward a few years... in Jr High I was sketching a car from the top while bored in class. The sketch had pop-up headlights, an hour-glass figure, and a spoiler on the back that wrapped around a bit. Looking back on my memory of this sketch it HAD to be a MkIII - but this was years before the MkIII was announced.
Fast forward again to my first car (I didn't actually get my own car until I was 24). My dad finally gave in and gave me his 81 Ford Fairmont Futura - with the inline 6 - on the condition that I had to get it running (it had sat for about 5 years). Within about a month I had it running again and was free.
I started looking at cars to replace the Ford. I wanted something with an open top. Tried the Del Sol - but I'm 6'4" and that car wasn't comfortable for me. Tried the Celica convertibles - nice. Tried a Camaro but the build quality was CRAP. I was on every dealership's waiting list for a used Supra. I found one here and one there but they were all pretty ragged out.
Then one day while waiting for a friend to come over and help find my slight oil leak in the Ford I was scanning the paper and found a white 89 Turbo. On the way to the local auto store we stopped in at the dealership to check it out. White, 1989 Turbo, 5 Speed, Sport Roof, Leather, etc and it only had 50,500 miles. WOW! The sticker was marked at $11,999. I negotiated them down a bit but they had to pay off another loan I had so my final loan amount was right at what they had the car marked at originally.
After a LONG and drawn out process I drove the salesman back to my house to pick up the Ford. I never thought I'd see that car again until about 2 - 3 years later I was driving to work and saw it parked on the side of the road. WILD!
Two days after buying my Supra the clutch gave up - completely - and with my boss in the car and everything. I replaced the clutch with a reman'd one and it is still holding today more than 130,000 miles later.
Later that summer the Supra started dying sometimes when I came up to a light. The Supra ran so smoothly that I wouldn't even realize this until the light turned green and I tried to go. Each time this happened I was able to restart the car and proceed. After a day or two of this it got to the point where something would have to cool off before I could restart. I finally got that to the dealership and got it fixed (was either the CPS or the TPS - it has been so long ago that I've forgotten what it was). They also fixed my AC under the recall. WOOHOO!
Basic maintenance was up first - replaced all of the hoses (or so I thought) and just enjoyed the car.
Eventually started doing upgrades. Suspension, intake, exhaust, bov, dp, blah blah blah.
Then when going home one night after work I gave it a nice goose only to start spewing smoke out the back end. OH CRAP! Was it the dreaded BHG? When I came to a stop I found that the smoke was coming from the front. Got off the road at my friend's place and found that I had blown a coolant hose. I was able to limp home after refilling the system and got that fixed.
Many years later (2005) I was on my way home and blew another hose. That's the extent of the problems I've had with the car.
Did a retorque at ~74,000 miles. The Supra made 9 trips from Portland to Las Vegas + one trip from Portland to Salt Lake City. Numerous trips to Seattle or the beach. All without any problems.
I parked the Supra after SILV05 since I had just picked up a daily driver. It sat there without moving for ~2.5 years. When I finally picked up a new battery a week ago it fired right up on the third crank.
Time to get it back on the road again.
