Toyota finally built a 2021 Supra with a removable roof, this one based on the Heritage Edition of the same car. The composite roof is designed to be stored in the trunk when not in use.
The GR Supra Sport Top, like the Heritage Edition, is a one-off made for SEMA360, the online version of the SEMA show held earlier this year. It’s a call back to fourth-generation Supras that also went roofless.
It looks good? Toyota thinks it’s more than good. For the first time I’ve seen in a press release in a while — I’m sure this word is in lots of press releases but I just skip past it because I’ve read too many press releases — Toyota refers to the car as “sexy.” That word is used following a brief discussion of the car’s “structural rigidity.”
Inspired by the overwhelming response to the GR Supra Heritage Edition that debuted last year, Toyota set out to dream up a fitting companion. Conceptualizing an open-air tribute to removable-top Supra models of the past, the team put much thought into the unprecedented task of removing the roof and a significant part of the GR Supra’s structure. The crew ensured structural rigidity by reinforcing large sections of the vehicle’s frame. The now iconic removeable roof includes two composite panels that can be stored in the car’s trunk. Unlike a “T-Top” car, there is no center bar down the middle, just open air as far as the eye can see. As a sibling to the GR Supra Heritage Edition, the Sport Top delivers similar styling cues like the MKIV-inspired basket handle wing and round taillights. At the same time, it has a striking profile all its own that includes a sexy black piano-finish canopy over the top.
Toyota also made a short series on how it got made:
There are Brembo brakes, a big wing, a 382-horsepower inline-six and 19-inch HRE wheels, though Toyota told Car and Driver that this doesn’t mean a roofless fifth-generation Supra is on the way. The GR Supra Sport Top is, “just an awesome one-off concept. Nothing forward-looking to announce.”
Which is a bummer, but I’m sure Toyota has done its market research.
