For Sale at Auction: 1994 Toyota TRD 3000GT in Carmel, California

Chassis No. 1: JZA800011586

U.S. Chassis No. JT2JA82J5R0011586

TRD 3000GT Serial No. JA810-021 0105 S

As Toyota prepared to enter the fourth generation Supra in the inaugural Japanese Grand Touring Championship (known today as Super GT) in 1994, its in-house performance arm Toyota Racing Development (TRD) crafted an equally captivating road-going counterpart of the upcoming Supra GT500 entry. Called the TRD 3000GT, this extensively re-worked performance car, although resembling in Supra in silhouette, powertrain, and original chassis number, was emphatically its own unique entity. Unveiled at the 1994 Tokyo Auto Salon, the mecca of Japanese Domestic Market builds, the TRD 3000GT blurred the line between homologation special and factory-built tuner masterpiece.

The 3000GT was clad in the same widened bodywork as the works 1994 SARD Supra JGTC GT1 car, and featured distinctive front and rear fender extensions that broadened the car by 60 mm at the front and 50 mm at the rear to accommodate wider wheels. A wider front fascia housed a larger intercooler, combined with a unique quad-vented hood that improved engine cooling for the car's venerable 3.0-liter 2JZ-GTE. New side skirts redirected airflow better into the side ducts and to a new rear spoiler. While each of these components was available individually through TRD's extensive catalog, Toyota assembled just 35 complete factory TRD 3000GTs, each distinguished by its own TRD 3000GT identification plate. The majority of these unicorns remained in their home country, with only a few exported internationally, making the TRD 3000GT among the rarest and most desirable factory interpretations of the A80 Supra ever produced.

This example is the 21st car assembled of the 35 factory TRD 3000GTs, and is only recorded example based on a U.S. delivery car. The car began life as a top-of-line 1994 Toyota Supra RZ finished in white and equipped with the six-speed manual transmission and Aero Top. According to internal dealership records, this car was manufactured in September 1993 and was delivered new the following month to the California Environmental Engineering testing facility in Santa Ana.

However, this example was quickly purchased by an individual from Tokyo who was on holiday in the United States, and was shipped back to its homeland at the beginning of 1994-its clean CarVX Vehicle History Report notes first Japanese registration that April. A serial plate in the engine compartment, which crucially differentiates each factory example, indicates that the car was converted to full TRD 3000GT specifications at the Shibaura plant in May 2001. The car remained in the Tokyo Metropolis for five more years, with numerous inspections reported until its final registration in Shinagawa in September 2006. Notably, the CarVX officially grades this example as a TRD 3000GT, further authenticating it as a genuine factory car.

Having accumulated some 32,000 miles in Japan, the TRD 3000GT was subsequently purchased by a Danish owner, who imported it around 2007 and exhibited the rare Toyota at various car shows until 2015, when it was purchased locally by the consignor.

The consignor has reportedly driven the car a mere 1,500 miles over the last 11 years of careful ownership; primarily maintenance drives of only about 150 miles per year for a car now recognized as a unicorn in the Japanese car world.

In the spirit of Toyota's own desire to take advantage of the Supra's well-documented reception of modification, an arsenal of period correct aftermarket components have been fitted under prior ownership. Highlights include an HKS Vein Pressure Converter and Graphic Control Computer ECU tuning hardware, HKS Air/Fuel Known Amplifier, and Data System ATT 235 turbo timer. With these upgrades, the car is reported to make nearly 500 horsepower; a major increase from the Supra's stock output but a surprisingly relaxed feat for the potent 2JZ motor. The interior has also been enhanced with period Recaro leather seats, carbon fiber trim overlays, new pedals, Defi temperature and oil pressure gauges, and an Alpine IVA-D105R mobile media station. Crucially, the car retains its TRD exhaust, Type S rear wing, steering wheel, and speedometer/tachometer fitted as part of the TRD 3000GT enhancements.

This 1994 Toyota TRD 3000 GT presents an exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire one of Toyota's most elusive performance cars: a factory-built tuning special that faithfully channels the spirit of the marque's entrance into top-flight Japanese GT racing. Unique even among the 35 genuine TRD 3000GTs as the only U.S.-specification example, it is without doubt a future cornerstone of any curated collection of Japanese performance unicorns. This example is primed to stop even the most discerning Japanese car enthusiast in their tracks wherever it appears next, whether at leading celebrations of Japanese imports or while carving through a twisting canyon road that best reminds its occupant of those touge roads immortalized in Fast & Furious and beloved Japanese racing anime such as Initial D and Wangan Midnight.