This is a brief history of my ownership of my first true sports car, a 1993 Toyota Supra non-turbo with targa top. During the time that I owned this car, I learned a lot about cars and became very passionate about them. I have no doubt that the Supra was one of the main reasons behind this.

After searching for nearly 6 months and being constantly frustrated because I always seemed to be just a couple hours too late, in early November of 2001 I finally found a Supra a few hours away from me and in my price range. I immediately made arrangements to meet the seller and test drive the car. It was an absolute joy to drive and I fell in love immediately. I paid the seller a deposit and arranged to pick the car up during my Christmas break from college after securing financing. At that time, I had no idea how hard it would be, despite the fact that I was paying for nearly half of the car from cash that I had been saving for quite some time. Neither of my parents were in a position to be able to co-sign my loan and became quite desperate. After speaking with several friends and family members unsuccessfully to get some more money and starting to get pressure from the seller because things were starting to look shaky, I made one last ditch effort to get a loan (after being rejected numerous times from multiple banks). I spoke directly to the branch manager, sold myself as a worthy investment with a bright career and showed a history of holding an account with them, and pretty much swore that I'd be selling body parts before I'd let them reposess the car. Apparently my pleas struck home, because the next day the manager herself called and said I had my loan and to go get my car (I still do the vast majority of my banking with them, despite living several hours away). I finally picked up the car at the very end of December 2001, just before returning to college for my spring semester. Lucky me, we got a veritable blizzard that evening as I drove home in my first RWD sports car; what an experience that was... I got it home safely and finally lost traction as I got it into the fresh, thick layer of snow in the driveway, parking the car at a severe angle from "normal", but totally unharmed.

Over the years I learned more about the finesse of handling the car and became quite good at driving it in the snow, since I worked the entire time I was in college and this was my only means of transportation. The more I learned about the car, the more I enjoyed it and wanted to know more, forming a vicious cycle which sucked my in very quickly. Before long, I had joined Madison Motorsports, a club of JMU students who were equally passionate about cars but not as interested in the show-car side as they were in true race cars. I formed some fast friendships there and before long was working at events with NASA and purchased my 91 Supra to build into a track car. That didn't quite work out fast enough to suit me and before long I had such a strong desire to get on track that I broke down and took he supra out. One of the great sayings is that you shouldn't track your car if you can't afford to walk away from it. This was the premise behind why I bought the second car, but I was throwing away money very quickly and before long wouldn't be able to walk away from that one either!

As the 2004 season loomed on the horizon, I started installing parts on the supra during some very cold afternoons in an effort to prepare it for its debut on track. With the help of several friends (Thanks guys!), I replaced the stock sway bars with a pair of TRD "Big Ass" sway bars, designed to give the car a tendency to oversteer. Furthermore, I replaced all four corners of the brakes with a set of Twin Turbo calipers and rotors with Hawk Blue pads. Fortunately for me, the previous owner had replaced the stock wheels with a set of chromed Twin Turbo wheels, so I didn't have to source a set of wheels to clear the gigantic calipers and rotors that were now stopping my car. In retrospect, part of me wishes that I hadn't rushed to modify the car before taking it on track, as I feel I may have learned more about the car and myself if I had left it in stock form and modified it according to what I felt.

As I became a more advanced driver and began experimenting more on track, I felt less comfortable risking a car that a valued so much, still made payments on, and relied on for daily transportation. I retired the car from track duty and used it primarily as a daily driver for most of my remaining time in college while I tracked my 240sx. I was still infatuated with the car and many of my friends were impressed by the car's abilities and beauty, despited it being underpowered in comparison to others. I rubbed off on a roomate/co-worker, who bought a 1995 hardtop NA, which made for quite a sight when they were both freshly cleaned and sitting together. Before long, my "fleet" had expanded and the Supra had been pushed back to my last resort for bad weather and I only drove it when I wanted to have some fun. Time passed and I drove it less and less in an effort to preserve it. I had always sworn that I loved the car too much to ever consider selling it and I had decided I wanted to not put the daily commuting miles on it and instead would save it for special days or really nice drives when I could take the targa off and enjoy it.

Needless to say, this didn't really make much financial sense and by the time I graduated and established a good job, I wasn't getting the opportunity to enjoy it much. My love had not diminished, but I was no longer enjoying it. Furthermore, I was also starting to get the itch to buy a house, as I had grown very tired of paying other people's mortgages for them. I took the car out for a final track event, which I must say I didn't really enjoy and probably served as the final nail in the coffin. I could feel the extra weight that I was working with, the oversteer that I had enjoyed so much now just irritated me, and I still didn't trust myself to push the car to its limits b/c I couldn't afford to lose it (this overcautiousness actually felt more dangerous b/c you start thinking, rather than instinctively reacting to situations).

I finally put it up for sale, and eventually found a buyer. He seemed as meticulous as I had been and I was happy when I got the impression that it was going to a good home where it would be appreciated. I was also happy to hear that he intended on doing the last step of the upgrades I had always hoped to do, the installation of a turbo motor (it had been a dream of mine to swap in a 1JZ-GTE to make it unique). I drove it up to Boston filled with all of the extra parts I had accumulated over time to deliver the car to the new owner. It was a good drive to say goodbye to the car which had been such a huge part of my life for so long, and it was topped off by snow flurries as I drove through Massachusetts on that cold afternoon, a funny coincidence from the day I purchased it...

I still miss the car occaisionally for its beauty and wonderful driving experience and occaisionally regret selling it. It enabled me to buy a house and move on to the next phase in my life, but this car will always be held by me in high regard.