Toyota TRD turns Supra into a throwback 3000GT concept for SEMA

Toyota’s TRD boffins are cooking up a special Supra for SEMA next month, a redux of the MkIV A80 1994 Supra 3000GT based on the new A90 Supra. TRD hasn’t explained what we’ll be seeing, instead releasing a five-minute video and a couple of photos as clues. Based on that, all we know to expect so far are a vented hood and a ginormous rear wing, everything one could want in a SEMA tuning starter kit. 

The vented hood and wing were two of the prominent features on the 25-year-old, racing-inspired Supra. There’s not much information on the original, but the Gran Turismo video game Wiki says that in 1994, TRD created a road-going Supra mimicking the racing version it planned to campaign in Japan’s GT championship. The coupe wore a different front intake, wheel arches that made the car 50 millimeters wider and vented front fenders, and extended side sills. GT Planet says TRD didn’t make any changes to the engine at first, focusing on aero development with wind tunnel testing and 3D simulations, suspension upgrades, and exhaust modifications. Eventually, the go-fast division worked up power increases from “mild street performance to ‘hard tuned’ packages illegal for street use.” The 3000GT kit wasn’t sold as a complete car, but as a catalog of parts.

TRD revealed the GR Supra Performance Line Concept at the Osaka Auto Messe earlier this year with parts that went on sale in Japan. Many will be hoping that the SEMA car presages more parts, and perhaps power upgrades, intended for the U.S. market when the debut happens Nov. 5. If TRD doesn’t announce new components for the U.S., SEMA Supras reveals from Artisan and Evasive probably will.