The
Toyota Supra became quite a polarizing talking point from the day it arrived to All-Stars, mostly due to having BMW-labeled parts. So this is my take on the shared-parts, "it's not really a Supra" grumblings that have been heard since before the car hit the market: I actually have no idea why all the fuss; there was nothing like this hysteria when the Scion FRS/
Toyota 86 variant of the BRZ arrived as the result of that partnership with Subaru. Okay, so the Supra has decades of "legend" behind it that those cars did not, but in the end, we got served two quite capable rear-drive hot rods, instead of zero—wow, such a problem. Likewise, with the Supra and
BMW Z4 we got two more fun sports cars to play with. The alternative? The possibility of BMW killing the Z4 and Toyota not bothering. Three cheers for deal making, imagination, and realistic foresight, I say.
One other point: We were lucky to have the Supra and BMW Z4 M40i at All-Stars this year. They don't look the same inside or out, they sound and drive differently, plus the BMW costs almost $14,000 more. Who cares if the welcome chime on a BMW sounds like the Supra? Maybe only a certain population of journalists, social media instigators, and the odd BMW owner?