Car Of The Day: December 3, 2010

Today's car of the day is Tomica's 1981 Toyota Soarer 2800GT.

The Toyota Soarer was a personal luxury GT coupé sold by Toyota in Japan from 1981 to 2004 built on the same manufacturing platform as the Supra. The Soarer débuted in 1981 with the Z10 series, replacing the Mark II Coupe, which took the form of an angular two-door coupé. In 1986, a more rounded Soarer was launched (the Z20 series). In 1991, the third generation (Z30 series) Toyota Soarer premiered in Japan. The Z30 series Soarers were also known as the Lexus SC 300/400, a luxury coupe Toyota had commissioned for its new upscale Lexus division outside Japan. While sharing the same body style and multiple components as the first Lexus SC, the Z30 series Soarer lineup offered different powertrain specifications and multiple unique vehicle configurations.

In its home market the Soarer was a competitor to the Nissan Leopard coupe. All versions of the Soarer featured a unique winged lion emblem (often mistakenly called a Griffin) as the logo throughout the vehicle.
In 2001, Toyota introduced a convertible successor which appeared in Japan as the fourth generation (Z40 series) Toyota Soarer, and elsewhere as the Lexus SC 430. In contrast to previous versions, the fourth generation Soarer and Lexus SC models were largely equivalent. In 2005, following the introduction of Lexus in Japan, sales of the Z40 series Soarer were discontinued and the Lexus SC 430 became available in the Japanese market.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Toyota Soarer 2800GT

The inline six that powered the MK II Supra was also under the hood of this beauty!  The Tomica is, as usual, a very nice casting of a car not well known outside of the Japanese market.  A pity Lexus didn't exist in the early '80s- this would have been a nice import from Japan.

The Soarer made its first appearance at the 1980 Osaka International Motor Show with the name "EX-8", and the Z10 series Toyota Soarer was produced from February 1981 to December 1985, with 2.0L, 2.8L or 3.0L DOHC I-6 variants. The first generation Soarer debuted with a rear-wheel drive configuration based on the A60 Supra. It boasted numerous technological items, such as touchscreen computer controlled air conditioning climate control (on all models excepting base models which featured standard fan/heater controls), digital speed and tachometer display using LED (that were differentiated between models), among other electronic features.

The suspension utilized Macpherson type front struts with trailing arm type IRS in the rear. The vehicle also came with self-diagnosis maintenance reminders.