The White Whale

It was big, it was white, and it was heavy. A big white whale, as its driver John Smith affectionately dubbed it. It’s a description that fairly summed up the Toyota Supra Turbo Group A racer – a car that could have been a winner, but…

Story: Steve Normoyle

Best laid plans…

It looked good on paper. It was powered by a turbocharged 3.0-litre six that was 50 percent larger in capacity than the four-cylinder turbo engines in the dominant Ford Sierra RS500. It was a full works-built Group A race car from Japan, a brand-new chassis, and it would enjoy factory support from Toyota Australia. At the wheel would be John Smith, unquestionably one of the fastest drivers in the country.

All the elements looked in place to make the Supra Turbo a formidable Bathurst contender. Toyota itself seemed excited about the prospect of taking on Nissan’s Skyline HR31, Holden’s new VL Commodore SS Group A SV ‘Walkinshaw’ and the aforementioned Sierras, as the Japanese manufacturer prepared to step up to the big league of Australian touring car racing after five years running 1600cc Corollas.

“We are quietly declaring our intention to enter motor sport at the top level in Australia,” Toyota’s sales and marketing chief Bob Miller told the media. “We know the competition is tough but the rewards are correspondingly high.”