For Sale: A Bone Stock 1997 A80 Toyota Supra
Screenshot: Pacific Auto Center OC
The A80 Toyota Supra has an almost god-like status among the automotive community, especially in tuner circles. But you already know that. Built from 1993 to 1997, the A80 Supra gained an even bigger following with 2001’s The Fast And Furious. As the years have gone on, their prices further skyrocketed. What’s worse is that they’re becoming harder and harder to find stock. Buyers have to contend with someone else’s potentially shitty mods, high miles, and six-figure price tags. But every so often there are still gems to be found, which is what this one looks like (for a price).
Screenshot: Pacific Auto Center OC
A Southern California dealer has this 1997 Toyota Supra 15th Anniversary Edition. What makes this one so special — and no it’s not the fact it’s an anniversary edition. Every 1997 Supra had this badge — is that everything on the car is stock. Everything from the 320-horsepower turbocharged I6 that’s mated to a six-speed manual to the chrome wheels hasn’t been touched.
As far as Toyota’s go, this thing is especially rare. Toyota only brought over 1,397 Supras to the U.S. for the 1997 model year. Only 768 of those had the twin-turbo I6 and manual transmission combo. The Carfax for this Supra is pretty clean as well. It’s only had two owners over the past 25 years. Based on the mileage histories, this thing was a garage queen.
The original owner had it for eight years, only driving it an average of 6,817 miles a year, before selling it when the odo hit 55,586 miles. The second owner drove it even less, driving just an average of 1,905 miles a year, before getting rid of it in November 2021. Now the odo sits at 88,818.
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Screenshot: Kelly Blue Book
The only problem is the price, the tiny sum of $154,995, supposedly down from $178,244, which the dealer is advertising as a $23,249 discount. Is it worth this price? Maybe, but probably not. I tried to get a good read on its value using Kelley Blue Book but for some reason wasn’t able to. The site claims that some data is missing on the vehicle and that I should “check back soon.” So I checked Bring A Trailer to get a better gauge.
Screenshot: Bring A Trailer
Looking at pricing trends over the past five years, it has mileage that should put it in the $40,000 – $60,000 range. At over $150,000, its pricing is in line with just five other Supras that have been sold on the site: two were in the $155,000 – $160,000 range; the other three were all over $200,000. Even then, the mileage on the two Supras that sold in that $150k – $160k range wasn’t that low, being 44,000 and 52,000 miles respectively. The example that sold for $232,000 had just 13,000 miles.
Is the California Supra worth the cost of brand new, better-performing cars just because it’s relatively rare and has no mods, then? Or does this show just how absurd pricing has gotten on these things? I would say a bit of both. But if you’re an individual who can afford to buy a six-figure 26-year-old Japanese sports car, I’m sure you know better.
