1993 Black
LHD · 5-speed

Chassis number 0001054 rolled off the line in February 1993 and was luckily spared destruction testing. In fact, it got the 'high life' and got sent to the west coast of America to be a press fleet car! The car came off the line wearing black paint and sporting a 'sport roof' which was basically a targa top that could be removed. It arrived in the USA with the naturally aspirated 3.0 inline 6, with a 5 speed transmission and the larger 17" wheels and tires that came standard on the twin turbo version. Sadly, I don't have a lot of details on the early life as a press car (I'm digging!!), but in 1995 this little car's fate was given a huge help from Cal Wells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Wells). The car was finished being a press car and was due to go back to Japan. It could not be sold as it was a pre-production car, so it was likely headed back to Japan to be crushed. Cal stepped in for NorthWest rally racer Ralph Kosmedes and 0001054 was given a new lease on life. Cal oversaw Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's off road Toyota truck efforts and this wasn't too far from that. The car was completely stripped to a shell, a new roof was put on (hardtop) and additional factory strut towers were welded over the existing ones to beef up the chassis along with the seam-welding and rally-spec cage installed. The factory brakes were removed and 4-piston Wilwoods were installed front and rear along with a different brake pedal setup that utilized a driver-adjustable balance bar and individual master cylinders. One of the most noticeable changes was to remove the factory 17" wheels and put on Supra MkIII "sawblade" 16" wheels. First off, nobody made 17" rally tires, and most importantly the MkIII wheels are incredibly strong and would survive the rigorous roads and jumps of rallying. Factory interior and door panels were removed, with aluminum skins installed over the doors while retaining power windows! Race seats, engine oil cooler, rally computer, upgraded lighting with a massive removable light pod, fuel cell, belly protection, roof vent, rear hatch vents....all the goodies were added. For 1996, chassis 0001054 saw a full season of SCCA RALLY, bouncing between CLUB and PRO events. The season opened in Washington state in February with the DooWop I and II rallies that brought another first in class (4th overall) the first day, followed by a slip to 5th on day 2. The next month was the PRO-RALLY opener and the Supra won its class (Group 5)!!! In all, a total of 10 rally events were attended in 1996 and while the driving team of Kosmedes and Noyes finished second in the G5 championship, they provided vital points for Toyota to win the manufacturers championship that year! The car was rallied until mid 1997 when Kosmedes debuted his next rally car, which was another Supra that was powered by the factory twin turbo motor for added power. The paint schemes were similar white/red, but the initial car had the red 'bump' in the door to mimic the Ruby's Diner logo (which sponsored the car), and the second turbo car had the red 'slant' on the side. While visually close, once you know what to look for you can spot the specific car quite easily. The car sat for a few years and then the initial co-driver Noyes bought the car and did some CLUB rallying with it in 2000 and 2001. In June of 2001 at the 25th rally for the car, a low stump was hit and the car did not finish that event. It was taken home, taken apart and went to a frame specialist who fixed the panels under the passenger's seat and footwell. New fenders and a hood (complete with ugly hood scoop!) were found to put the car back together. The rest of the season was missed and after September 11th, the economics of fielding the car just didn't work out as life got busy for Noyes. The car sat.

http://www.witchdoctormotorsports.com/ch198.htm