The Story Behind The Greatest Toyota Supra In Racing History
In mid-2020, after years of being believed lost by almost everyone, the Toyota #36 Castrol TOM’s (Tachi Oiwa Motor Sports) Supra was found in an old storage warehouse in the Chugoku region of Japan. Though no one is certain how it ended up there, it’s likely been stored at the facility for a long time,CarsCoopsreported. According toAuto Week, #36 was to be restored to its glory days by none other than Tachi Oiwa Motor Sports, the original TOM’s team, using the Japanese crowdfunding siteMakuake. When #36 was found in that dusty warehouse, the its legendary stories were given new life.
Number 36 Castrol TOM’s Supra is an iconic part of Toyota’s racing team, a nemesis for Nissan in Japan’s Super GT series (via Auto Week). Toyota’s highly modified Supra joined the scene in 1995 during the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship JGTC. After, it paved the way for the GT500 class and become a big part of racing lore. The Toyota Supra appears in “Gran Turismo” games with its iconic racing white, red, and green body paint, and is also driven by late actor Paul Walker — a bright orange version — in the original “Fast and the Furious” movie.
Toyota’s inspiration for the Supra goes back ’60s with the 2000GT.Since then, the Supra evolved into a sportscarwhose legacy can’t be ignored. Its six-cylinder front engine and rear-wheel drive configuration spread across four generations and into the ’90s when it embraced racing. The 2022 and 2023 Supra models include limited editions and versions that capture theGAZOO Racingspirit.The fast-running modelsthat go from zero to 60 in about three seconds, start around $43,540, perToyota. And new models still draw strength from the legendary Castrol TOM’s Supra that raced in the ’90s in Japan.
Toyota’s Castrol TOM’s Racing Years
In response to Nissan’s domination of the 1994 Skyline GT-R series, Toyota built the Castrol TOM’s Supra. It debuted in 1995 for the JGTC, according toAuto Week. Toyota chose TOM’s to lead the racing team for its experience. TOM’s represented Toyota at 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Group C era, and had ties to Toyota extending back to 1974,Daily Sports Carexplains.
While the Supra is recognizable thanks to its pure-white base and green and red lines, the engine under the hood is what really it’s truly known for. Leveraging the JGTC regulation, which allowed cars to use any engine as long it was in the original manufacturer’s range of engines, Toyota fitted the Supra with a two-liter turbocharged 3S-GT. This made the car lighter than Nissan’s, and added agility, speed around corners, and 493 horsepower and 600 Newton meters of torque. Proud of its racing DNA,Toyotasays the TOM’s Supra won the JGTC championship four times: 1997, 2001, 2002, and 2005.
