It looks almost identical to the coupe when the roof is in place.
The spirit of the targa-topped Supras of the 1980s and 90s is still alive and well with GR Supra Sport. This one-off was created for the digital-only SEMA event. Toyota claims it was inspired to make the GR Supra Sport Top by the A80 targa Supra as it was removing the roof from an A90. This latest build is a sequel to the retro-flavored Heritage Edition, which was unveiled last year at the same event in Sin City.
The Sport Top involved more than removing the fixed roof and replacing with removable panels. The team behind this project also added reinforcements beneath the car from the engine bay to the tub’s rear. The outer body was also reinforced to preserve the rigidity of the GR Supra even when it had an open-top configuration.
Some people might wonder why Toyota hasn’t made the SEMA car a product they can actually purchase. BMW might not like this because it could reduce sales of the Z4, the base for the Supra. The Supra’s hardtop would require you to remove it yourself, but the Bimmer has an electrically retractable softtop.
The Supra isn’t the first Toyota sports car to lose its fixed roof. In fact, the FT86 concept saw the same process in 2013. It had an electricly operated fabric roof, rather than a targa setup. Toyota acknowledged that the concept was nearly made into a production vehicle in 2019, but it never came to fruition.
The Supra’s third-gen model, which was a standalone vehicle rather than a Celica version, will be able to bring back the targa arrangement that it had in 1986.