The Mk4 Toyota Supra is one of the most renowned performance cars of all time. Whilst there are five generations worth of Supras, each interesting and worthy cars in their own right, the Mk4 is the vehicle that is conjured by the mind’s eye upon hearing those five fabled letters.
Even Kerbsider’s school studies could not escape the grasp of the Mk4. Geography; Glaciation. Debris carried atop a glacier is known as Supraglacial debris. Instead of dutifully writing notes about thousands of tonnes of rock and sediment being ferried along by a million tonnes of ice, spotty teenaged Kerbsider instead imagined a solitary Mk4 Supra doing big dirty skids atop some seemingly (and very unrealistically) smooth glacier, 2JZ howling, and an ancient valley echoing its appreciation.
Despite its legendary status, the Mk4 Supra did not create this legend as soon as it rolled from the production line. The Mk4 was an impressively built, albeit expensive Japanese performance car designed to rival Porsches and Mercedes. The lack of perceived prestige from Toyota’s humble badge meant sales were slow. Outside of Japan, convincing wealthy car buyers to part from the European norm was incredibly difficult. The Mk4’s fairly forgettable styling was another issue.
The design of the Supra is not necessarily bad; just plain. It’s a big, smooth edged car which in recent years has been declared a ‘canvas’ – a term of endearment by fans who appreciate the original mild-mannered design meant more freedom for exploring different designs and styles without compromising the silhouette of the car; something that is impossible in this age of hyper-aggressive car design.
However, the Mk4 does hold one absolute design masterstroke: it’s interior.
The beauty of Supras only being right hand drive, meant the interior could be far more of a bold and declarative statement. There was no need for consideration of how the positioning of an interior control switch would translate to a left-hand drive version. What you got from Toyota, that was it.
And my word, did Toyota do something special.
The Mk4 Supra’s interior is less of an interior but more of a cockpit. The driver’s side of the car is dominated by this unbelievably daring wraparound dashboard. The dash starts at the central arm rest and ends at the cubby hole of the driver’s doorcard. One continuous wraparound of plastic and controls and dials and vents.
When the driver’s door is closed you are cocooned within the Supra. Every control and vent is angled towards the driver the dash rises and wraps around to the instrument binnacle, with the design continuing behind the wheel and down the right hand side of the instrument panel and onto the doorcard.
The effect is magnificent. There is no confusion, there is no illogicality. Every control is within easy reach of the driver. Every button clearly laid out. The mix of buttons and rotary controls is simple as they come and some of the actions of the buttons is delicious; the resistance, click and then spring action of the hazard light button feels invincible.
And it is. This is a Toyota from the 1990s, meaning build quality is unsurpassed and it feels it. Yes, the scratchy hard plastic ages the car, and the faux-leather is pretty terrible, but neither of those aspects detract from this glorious unsymmetrical design. The difference in the design between the driver’s and passenger’s air vents is a huge indicator of this. The passenger’s vents are of a vertical rectangular design, just sort of there compared to the driver’s circular aircraft propeller vents angled directly towards them. Fewer cars, bar perhaps the McLaren F1, have ever transmitted a clearer signal the passenger that, “you are along for the ride and that is all”.
Unfortunately, the global car market means it is unlikely we’ll ever see anything like the Mk4 Supra’s interior again. Sure, some BMWs still angle the dash sort of towards the driver in either a left or right hand drive car but the motif comes off as a sort of token gesture, and as such it feels insincere.
At the risk of sounding incredibly old… they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.
Kerbside 