Hopefully buying a 1988 Supra today.


Recommended Posts

Yep currently a heap. However part of the attraction to a lot of car enthusiasts is the journey. It can be very rewarding to take an older neglected car and restore it to what it once was and save an example of a different era from the scrape heap. Anyone with enough money can own a new corvette, but finding and restoring yourself an old stingray is more of a selective club and rewarding. To the OP congratulations on a nice find and try not to bloody your knuckles too much. By the way is your tetanus shot up to date? Good luck with the work.

I know exactly what you're saying, but you do bring up the point I failed to convey by saying it's overpriced: this is not a Corvette or a classic muscle car of a bygone era; it's a 1988 Toyota Supra. Around here the things have value as winter beaters and not much more.

Never pay an arm and leg for an old car, period. A guy in my area is trying to sell a 1970 chevy pickup for five thousand. I basically told him good luck and walked away.

Depending on the condition of the truck that might be a steal. Early 70's Chevy pickups are as high as $15k on E-bay.

Back to the OP, more power to you. If you have the time and money and like the car, enjoy yourself and make it yours.

I know exactly what you're saying, but you do bring up the point I failed to convey by saying it's overpriced: this is not a Corvette or a classic muscle car of a bygone era; it's a 1988 Toyota Supra. Around here the things have value as winter beaters and not much more.

Yeah a Supra isn't exactly the best example from that era, but that era wasn't exactly a high point in auto history. A Supra wouldn't have been my choice, but to each his own and I did dump too much money into restoring a 88 Rx-7 so I have little room to talk (and I'd probably do it again too). Also the era when you grew up plays a part in the cars you consider "classic" and other emotional attachments. I consider a mint green 73 Maverick a fine example of a car due to my personally history.No one else on the planet does, but I'd restore one in a minute.The Supra does represent a certain high point in Japanese import sports cars especially now that Toyota has abandoned it's sports car lines. (Celica, Supra, MR are all gone). I think it could be a fun project with a nice reward at the end.

Edited by rathefeare

:blink: :|

With this new batch of pictures, I can't say if you really made such a good deal. Your Supra needs work all around, and it's clear that the body is having rust problem (seeing from under your car).

Lots and lots of work... I hope you enjoy it. I would not invest money or time in a car of this condition.

I'd be hard pressed to NOT pay 2500 for a Turbo Supra... particularly if the engine / ECU are usable- they're worth that for salvage as a front-clip.

The 22R/22RE they used in the early Supras (which were based on the Celica) did nothing to help the car out. It was only when they went to the turbo'd inline-6 did that car ever live up to its 'Supra' name. When that engine came out, it was an all out what could Ford and GM could do with their T-Bird/Mustangs and F-Body's (Ford, GM respectively) race.

Regardless of body work, I assume that you've bought the car because that was 'the' car you wanted. It may never be the fastest or quickest, but you bought it because you 'want' it. It may be 20+ years old, but when you're done, it will be the perfect car for you. And, maybe the perfect car for someone else. And they'll pay for it too.

Too bad I didn't get there first- I'd like that in my 4Runner.

I'm probably buying rotors and pads tomorrow and throw them on. That way I know I can stop. And I love the 7M-GTE that is in it.

So my list of parts I really need is getting smaller:

Pads

Rotors

Exhaust

Wow, not too bad. Going from clunker to running in about 4 days isn't bad. I'm still waiting on like 6 or 7 parts to come in so it can start to look decent.

I'm probably buying rotors and pads tomorrow and throw them on. That way I know I can stop. And I love the 7M-GTE that is in it.

So my list of parts I need is getting smaller:

Pads

Rotors

Exhaust

Wow, not too bad. Going from clunker to running in about 4 days isn't bad. I'm still waiting on like 6 or 7 parts to come in so it can start to look decent.

Obviously- cross-drilled rotors, 4 piston, full floating calipers... I think Brembo has 6 piston floating calipers... ... ...

... adjustible proportioning valve for the rear, right?

Know anyone that wants an 89 Celica GT Convertible? Thought I'd ask.

I'll probably go with something cheap and simple for now, just to get me by. I can't wait to get the new hatch so I don't have a opaque rear window. I got lucky and found one of the same color, all it was missing was some trim around the window and the spoiler, and I have both.

Very nice pictures (Y) . I can understand your motivation for buying a car like that and I hope you enjoy turning something that is considered beyond it's sell by date and turn it into a working piece of fine art.

Scirwode

Good job turning the car around for the better!

As others have said though, it might be wise to bid a little lower next time.

My friend bought an '88 Supra Turbo for around 3 grand in our overpriced Western Canada market. But the car ran perfectly, and the exterior was almost flawless other than a few paint chips.

The only niggling detail was the leather seats. They were worn and cracked.

The car is coming along nicely and I am looking forward to more information and pictures as you go along. Don't get discourage by the others. There are many other people with project cars out there who started out just like you. Here are two examples:

1987 Mazda Turbo II

http://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=33745

and

1990 240SX

http://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=29764

I am very interested in following other people's project cars. It's an interesting read with pictures that passes the time.

Hope these encourage and motivate you to turn your Supra into something special :D Keep us updated!

Edited by M1h4iL
The car is coming along nicely and I am looking forward to more information and pictures as you go along. Don't get discourage by the others. There are many other people with project cars out there who started out just like you. Here are two examples:

1987 Mazda Turbo II

http://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=33745

and

1990 240SX

http://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=29764

I am very interested in following other people's project cars. It's an interesting read with pictures that passes the time.

Hope these encourage and motivate you to turn your Supra into something special :D Keep us updated!

Yeah, and look at how much they paid for the car vs how much he paid. It being a project car is not the problem. Him over paying is everyones point. The guy bought his 1 year older supra for $300 more. Not too bright but hey, lets compare.

By looks standards, the $300 more looks considerable better. It also needed less work to get going, in fact all the "work" he did on it was trivial to it running.

Regardless, if he has the money and he is happy with it, who cares? People overpay everyday. And jerk offs like us like to point it out to make ourselves feel better.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Ford execs say they made a mistake when they replaced human engineers with AI by David Uzondu Ford recently announced that over the last three years, it's had to rehire about 350 "gray beard" engineers to mentor younger staff and reprogram diagnostic systems and AI tools that were failing to meet up to quality expectations. The company's VP of vehicle hardware engineering, Charles **** said that leaders overlooked the deep experience of veterans who survived many product cycles. **** admitted that simply replacing them with AI was a huge mistake, and that while AI is "a fantastic tool," it remains "only as good as the information you use to train it." The rehired engineers now run mandatory meetings to troubleshoot vehicles and reprogram automated engineering software and AI tools to prevent glitches before production. These technical specialists hunt for failure points before parts ever reach the plant floor, helping prevent the massive recalls and defects that previously cost the company billions as it aims to cut one billion dollars in expenses this year. In last year's JD Power Quality Survey, an annual study that measures the quality of a car during the first three months of ownership, Ford finished 10th among mainstream brands and scored below the industry average. But this year, JD Power ranked the automaker as the top mainstream brand, placing it above the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. Ford attributed this massive improvement directly to the expertise of these returned engineers. Ford's realization that AI cannot magically design and test quality vehicles without senior human oversight is just the tip of the iceberg. When Careerminds looked at companies that conducted AI-driven layoffs, researchers found out that 35.6% of those companies had to rehire more than half of the employees they previously fired. Another 32.7% had to rehire between 25% and 50% of them. In 2024, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, proudly announced that its new chatbot was doing the work of 700 full-time customer service agents. As a result, the fintech company froze hiring and cut hundreds of positions. But by mid 2025, and into 2026, Klarna was scrambling to recruit human agents again because customer satisfaction had plummeted. It turns out, while AI is very good at answering basic questions like how to check an account balance, when faced with complex customer issues that require nuance, the thing usually resorts to the unhelpful, robotic corporate jargon we all know and love.
    • Free AI in IDEs is shifting to paid models Or you know, you could just learn to actually design and code apps, use frameworks to handle the repetitive parts and not use AI at all - and voila... free for life!
    • In a sane world US antitrust laws wouldn't even allow these companies to be in the position to be subjected to EU directives. As you say, better than oligarch nothing.
    • Apple reportedly has a second-generation iPhone Fold planned for 2027 Good grief, Apple hasn't even released a first folding phone and the Apple faithful is already obsessing over the sequel? Seriously people, go out and touch grass... because this level of obsession is borderline stalkery/neurotic.
    • I checked on the IPs associated with every login and they're all mine... And whenever I get a new prompt, there is no activity to show for it. 
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      405
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      169
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      129
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!