1994 Toyota Supra Turbo Establishes a New Record Auction Price

The Toyota Supra Turbo was born into an era of Japanese automotive courage. The car had noble adversaries like the Mazda RX-7, the Mitsubishi 3000 GT, and the Nissan 300ZX. But out of them all, this Toyota managed to rise to fame quickly. It featured a generous 180-mph speedometer that was complemented by a tachometer that had an arousing 6,800-rpm redline.

The car reached legendary status when people discovered that it could handle tuning with virtually no issues. It turned into a must-have for some gearheads. With that major advantage and the star status brought by the well-known car-related motion picture, things were always going to look good for those that didn’t want to get rid of them or heavily modify their two-door 2JZ-powered Toyotas.

But are Mk IV Supra auctions becoming too enthusiastic nowadays? Well, let’s see. It’s an interesting world out there.

Back in July, a 1997 Toyota Supra Turbo with an automatic gearbox sold for $230,000. The community went berserk, and everyone was happy for both the seller and the owner. From that point on, most people thought there wasn’t going to be any other Mk IV Supra Turbo that would generate the same amount of interest.

But things went south fast. The same vehicle was auctioned off at Mecum for $165,000! The seller said they made a different deal with the BaT buyer, the Supra was returned to them in exchange for another vehicle, and they chose to not relist it on Bring a Trailer. So, the sale for $230,000 stands, even though it ultimately found another home for $65,000 less.

And, keep in mind, we’re still in the six-figure price territory.

The new champion

However, here we are! After this innocent mishap, another Toyota superstar is finding itself at the top of the food chain. Manufactured in June 1994 at the Motomachi plant in Japan, the black-on-black six-speed manual model was destined to arrive in the U.S. More specifically, it ended up in Ohio, where it was bought in August of the same year by its first and only owner. They paid $48,895, which would amount to $87,754 in today’s money.

During its 28 years of existence, the vehicle was never stolen or crashed. Its title remained clean, and the owner traveled approximately 13,000 mi (20,921 km) with it.

The best thing about this particular 1994 Supra Turbo is that it managed to go away for $2,000 over what the winning bidder had to pay for the aforementioned 1997 Mk IV. The new owner paid $232,000 and the $5,000 Bring a Trailer fee.

While some of the auction watchers and followers understood why the Mk IV Supra Turbo can reach such high valuations, some expressed some doubts about this result.

Not (that it matters, but not) everyone was happy

A couple of them even compared the hype for Supras with the effervescence only met in crypto markets during bull runs. But on social media, things went even more south. Some said they believe this is a “money laundering” attempt, while others couldn’t believe what a clean, verified, and well-documented Supra could bring in.

The seller (the owner’s wife) commented on the auction and thanked everyone for their input while adding that she was “impressed with the passion, enthusiasm, and knowledge that everyone shared.”

All in all, the buyer pays what they think the vehicle’s worth, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. It might not matter to them that people love the 3.0-liter 2JZ powerplant tucked away under the hood or the “Made in Japan” emblem. They might as well not care about the Fast and Furious link.

Someone truly wanted this vehicle, and they got it. And that’s all we need to know. That is until it pops up on some other auction platform and sells for a lot less.