1983 Toyota Supra - Reader Ride

By: Guy Allen, Photography by: Guy Allen

Date: 08.03.2019

Tired of turbo lag? Just throw a giant V8 in it

James Politino's 1983 Toyota Supra

If James Politino's face looks familiar, it's because he appeared in our Reader Rides section recently with his tasty Corvette. And this is the car the Chevrolet has essentially replaced.

"I’ve owned Supras since I was 17," he explains, "And was hanging out to get a twin-turbo. But it was a bit disappointing, particularly in the twisties where the turbo lag is a bit crap. It gets off the line okay, but on and off the throttle you get the lag.

"I looked at a small single turbo conversion and ECU, but there issues with getting it engineered down here. Meanwhile I had a mate with a VT Club Sport, and its power impressed me.

"I considered selling this, but you can’t get anything that looks like it that also has a V8 sound." James had a crack at a V8 conversion, initially with a put a second-hand L98 out of the VS SS. That lasted all of 3000km before the bottom end failed.

And now? "This one has been converted to 6.2lt LS3, used on the C6 Corvettes or Camaro and the last of the Holden VF SS. I bought it as a crate engine from Preston Motors in Vic."

He’s backed that up with a T56 six-speed transmission and, incredibly, the whole set-up fitted with very little trouble.

The big job was getting the wiring hooked up correctly. The engine is running a Holden E38 ECU. "A mate of mine did much of the work in his garage and of course one of the main things was to get the wiring loom right. There lots of late nights, or early mornings!

"I love driving it. The throttle response is instant and it’s very direct to drive. It’s pretty much everything I wanted in it. The engine sound is good and we’re running the twin entry twin exit set-up."

As much as James would like to keep this and the recently-acquired Corvette, one of them has to go. So the Supra is on the market. You’ll find more details here.

Valuation: One-offs are difficult to judge but mid-30s seems reasonable.

Classic Australian Family Car Value Guide home page

Muscle Car Value Guide home page

Japanese Classic Car Value Guide home page

Recent auction results

Unique Cars magazine Value Guides

Sell your car for free right here