It’s finally happened. After Toyota revealed Final Edition variants of the GR Supra for various markets earlier this year, teasing the end of the A90’s lifecycle, the automaker has now issued a statement confirming when exactly the Supra will be put to pasture. It’s short enough for us to include here: “Production of the Supra will end in March 2026. We would like to thank our many customers for their patronage. We sincerely apologize to customers who were considering purchasing a Supra for this announcement.” So what’s next? Before we get there, let’s take a short trip down memory lane.
A Brief History Of The A90 Supra
Toyota
Known internally by model code J29/DB, the A90 GR Supra has been produced in Austria by Magna Steyr on behalf of Toyota since 2019. It has shared that characteristic with the G29 BMW Z4 with which it shares a platform, something that caused consternation among some enthusiasts who had hoped that the Supra would be an all-Toyota alternative to the likes of the Nissan GT-R and Acura NSX. The financial implications of such a vanity project made it unfeasible in such a form, but fans who felt hard done by were not necessarily being overly critical. After all, Toyota had shown the FT-HS (Future Toyota-Hybrid Sport) concept at the 2007 North American International Auto Show with a 3.5-liter V6 hybrid powertrain and much more imposing proportions than the ultimate production car. Then, on 13 January 2014, the new FT-1 concept was shown. Again, this was wide and supercar-like, but to be fair, Toyota said that it was targeting a price of around $60,000, essentially confirming that a production variant would be less extreme than the concept. Moreover, chief designer Nobuo Nakamua confirmed that, although the FT-1’s design inspired the new Supra, the former was a larger GT concept while the latter was a more compact sports car with more in common with the Toyota 2000GT.
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Over the following months and years, the Supra nameplate was trademarked across the globe, and in July 2018, a pre-production camo-clad version of the new Supra was revealed to the Goodwood Festival of Speed crowd before a full reveal at the 2019 North American Auto Show. As alluded to above, some naysayers had negative comments about the BMW components, but as aftermarket tuners have proven time and time again, Bavaria’s B58 straight-six turbo engine has been just as tuner-friendly as the legendary 2JZ in the A80 Supra, if not more so.
Where The Supra Story Is Headed Next
Toyota
Toyota has yet to confirm what form the next Supra will take, but a new Supra is certainly coming. According to some reports out of Japan, the A90’s successor will have a Lexus twin, and both cars may be powered by a Mazda-developed inline-six. Again, it seems that Toyota wants to collaborate with another automaker in order to keep costs down, and while some may still have negative feelings about that, it’s certainly the right move. If Toyota were to self-develop everything from platform to powertrain, the next Supra could carry a six-figure price tag, and that’s Lexus territory. Well, it usually is; a new Gazoo Racing supercar to sit above the Supra with V8 power is coming soon. Expect a preview of the next Supra sometime next year, and until then, we’ll have to rely on the rumor mill.
