It can be hard to believe that the Toyota Supra is 45 years old. While most buyers are familiar with the current generation model and its 1990s era ancestor, it can be easy to forget that the Supra actually had its start in the 1980s before gaining widespread popularity a decade later. Toyota is eager to celebrate with the all-new 45th Anniversary Edition Supra. This Supra promises to help the Toyota celebrate its birthday in style but is it a compelling enough purchase for enthusiasts?
Supra is stylish in orange
With the bulk of the current generation Supra carrying over for 2024, the 45th anniversary edition focuses on styling and minor changes to help it stand out from the rest of the family. That included our tester’s Mikan Blast (aka orange) paint which pops in the sunshine. Buyers looking to blend in better can go for Absolute Zero (white) but both colors are paired with a black fully adjustable rear wing with additional front bracing, blacked-out wheels, and painted brake calipers with a stripe along the side saying Supra.
The bold colors create a festive atmosphere but that changes when you slip inside. The Supra is based on the BMW Z4 and while the seats are comfortable and the BMW-sourced infotainment system is easy to use, the cabin still lacks personality and can feel as bland and uninspiring as its source material especially when going down on long cruises. The Supra is only available as a coupe but the bodystyle pinches rearward visibility and forces drivers to rely on the Park Assist feature to help get the Supra parked into tight spots. Thankfully, the rear hatch has plenty of room for cargo and can swallow a good haul of groceries or even gear needed for a weekend track day. The interior is also largely carried over from the standard model with no major changes for the 45th anniversary edition save for minor trim differences.
Manual adds depth to Supra driving experience
Performance for all Supra models comes from a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six which makes 382 hp and 362 lb-ft of torque. Our tester arrived with a six-speed manual and while the eight-speed automatic continues to be available, the manual is where you need to go if you want to extract the full amount of performance from the Supra’s performance hardware. Shifts are smooth and this is arguably one of the best manual transmissions on the market today. An auto blip feature allows the revs to go up to help smooth out shifts but while this was helpful in some of the urban driving we did, it’s best tailored for the racetrack
Steering is sharp and composed with the Supra doing a good job of communicating to the driver especially in sharp cornering. Braking in our tester was also strong and stable with the car always delivering stable stops from a wide variety of speeds. Sport mode is as firm as one would expect but while some folks will complain about the stiff tune that it creates in the suspension, we actually liked it better than the default normal mode since it allowed us to zero in on every tiny aspect of the Supra’s driving behavior better. Toyota says that the 45th can make the sprint to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds which is very sprightly for how heavy it is. Fuel economy does suffer as a result, but the SUpra is all about providing smiles for gallon versus formal MPG anyway so look for that to not bother the bulk of buyers too much.
Value Quotient
Pricing for the 45th Anniversary Editon model starts at $65,275 which is a noticeable premium over the base model’s $55,400 MSRP. However, the company is providing customers alot of performance and retro nostalgia for the money, and the 45th Anniversary Edition certainly provides plenty of attention and conversations especially when it is parked.
The 45th Anniversary Edition will not be available for the 2025 model year when the Supra shrinks to only two trim levels with the 2.0-liter being axed due to slow sales. The 45th Anniversary model can also be considered the definitive zenith of the current model and will perhaps be the final crescendo before the Supra potentially exits production as partner company BMW mulls the future of its platform mate the Z4 which has seen sales slow to a trickle and is in the crosshairs of the German firm’s bean counters as the company focuses on providing more utility and EV models at the cost of slow selling niche models.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.