Flashback to 2007.

I was 16 and had my first job at In N Out, across the street from a Circuit City.

Every night, there was a white MKIV Supra parked in the Circuit City parking lot. It was my first time seeing one up close.

The car was in sorry shape. It had a cracked up carbon fiber hood and beat up Blitz body kit. It looked better from far away.

Circuit City closed down and the car was spotted only a few times after that.



8 years later in 2015.

My neighborhood is separated by a major thoroughfare, thus, I rarely visit the other side.

On a rare occasion of driving through, I spotted a big spoiler poking out from a cul-de-sac. Curiosity came knocking.

It was the Supra from Circuit City. Layers of dirt covered the car, and the tires had debris built up around them. The tags had been expired for two years (2013 expiration date) and Google Street View showed it hadn't moved since then.

I snapped a photo from the passenger seat of my friend's 1984 300ZX (below). Buying neglected cars has always been a passion of mine, I eventually bought the 300ZX, too.

At this point, I had a MK3 at home, but it was not finished. A MK4 would have been way out of my price range, so the intention was to settle with a built MK3 Supra.


There were a few other local neglected cars that I wanted, but this one immediately jumped to the top of that list. The next few days were filled with wonder - who leaves a MKIV Supra outside to rot? What's wrong with it?






Google Street View showing the car parked in 2013.





There was only one way to get this car - grow a pair and ask to buy it.

The gentleman who answered the door was the owner. He said it had been sitting for quite a while and was likely only going to sit for years to come. It seemed like he wanted to see the car get restored and driven.

A closer look revealed the following:

1994 Supra twin turbo
Automatic
TT calipers painted red with Brembo stickers, rusty rotors
Blitz bumpers, side skirts, spoiler, trunk logo, BOV, turbo timer
Relatively stock and untouched 2JZ-GTE, stock twins
Carbon fiber hood, cracked and faded, doesn't fully latch
Aluminum radiator, missing fan shroud and condenser
Blitz 19" wheels with Michelin tires, 245 front, 295 rear
HKS Super Drager catback exhaust
96-98 headlights and tail lights
Cracked windshield, rear view broken off
Purple tint, bubbling up badly
White gauge inlays, aftermarket Pioneer radio
Dents all over, scratches in the paint, fading here and there
Faded pearl white paint job, jammed and everything

To my surprise, he threw out a number that was completely within my available budget. There was no doubt, many thousands would be required to restore this thing.

The key was also missing, so there was no indication of mileage. It was unlocked.