horent135

iTrader: (10)

Supra was expensive, and IS300 was like 12-15k, so next cheapest car was the SC, and brought one.

BLK13X

Ahh. I first saw one when I was on holidays with the family in the US when I was about 11 (1995), it was a platinum SC (didn't know if it was a 300 or 400) but looked at it in amazement.

I purchased my first one in late 2001 (93 twin turbo), and have owned 2 afterwards and still have them now (97 VVTi turbo and 91 V8).

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

I never knew about Gen1 SC's when my folks bought their first LS400. By the time they bought their second one around 2000 I may have known about them. I only began paying attention when I learned that other cars in the Toyota/Lexus range had the Supra non-turbo I6 and that SC's could be had with manual transmissions. I believe this was learned from internet forums in the late 90's. This was pre-F&F (what a crap movie series). Around 1996-7 sometime I was seeing two cars that I confused a lot from the rear: the MKIV Supra and the FD RX-7. I'd first seen the FD RX-7 in a friend's garage in 1994. His Dad had bought the car as a toy for himself but it was giving him issues and he sold it a year later. I had always thought it was a beautiful exotic car.

By 1998 I was seeing the last new versions of these cars driving around and kept noticing the Supra. I was driving a '69 Mustang fastback at the time and was mostly interested in classic cars but the Supra became more appealing the more I read about its design. The engine was also beginning to be known as legendary because it had such high nickel content iron casting-- just like the powerful V8 small blocks and big blocks of the past.

Anyway, from forum searching I learned of the SC connection and I think I ruled them out initially at that time because they were expensive for used cars and I knew nothing about parts swapping with the MKIV's or maintenance independent of snooty Lexus dealers. Also, what I really liked were Supra MKIV's but then as now they were uncommonly expensive.

By the time I got tired of my reliable and dependable Prelude's front-drive, "glass" manual transmission and FRM cylinder liners that made turbocharging or supercharging an impediment to engine life I was looking at older Japanese RWD cars as replacements. The SC was always in the top five because by that time I just wanted the mechanical equivalent of an MKIV Supra. The looks took more time to grow on me. During the time I owned the Honda I learned all the basics that could be done to the SC's as well as many other cars: Starion, MKIII Supra, Mustang SVO, Buick Regal T-Type/GN, 90-93 Fox 5.0, 240SX, 86-91 FC FX-7, Celica All-Trac.

By the time I needed another car and I wasn't able to find any fairly new RWD/AWD performance coupes in my price range I chose the SC300 5-speed when I found one because it was the most reliable and overbuilt chassis/drivetrain of all those vehicles, half of which would have required full motor swaps.

Cleanshots

iTrader: (2)

iv always loved toyota and rwd.. i had 2 ae86's when i was 15-17 ish and for a short time i went foxbody mustang. but always wanted boost and 2jzgte. supra was too much money and every ricer wanted one after fast and furious. it is soo much more sleek and sexy than a supra. i always wanted one! and is like a bigger ae86. i love the sc and the ae86!

Joey-E

iTrader: (1)

Loved them as a kid, always been and will be a toyota guy, wanted something different then the rest that has potential, when the time came did some research, looked for one and there you go

Toytech

Worked for a Toyota dealership that was also a Lexus dealer as a mechanic, loved the car after driving one on a pre-delivery test drive.

Li Ls4

iTrader: (12)

haha exactly the same reason as me

S0ulTuner

No way! thats the same color name as my '97 Celica, I wonder if its the same paint code

and I might as well share my partial story (sister still has the SC ) of my SC

When I was 11 or 12, my mom had been married to my step dad for a few years at this point, and they wanted to get a fun little car for my mom to drive so she wouldn't have to drive the Mazda 626 that leaked exhaust fumes into the car. They found a '93 Royal Jade SC300 for sale. It had barely any miles but was selling for a much fairer price than he expected. My step dad is into cars almost (if not as much) as I am and he couldnt figure out why. well the dealership owner (who knew a friend of my step dads or something like that) that it had a salvage title prior to this resale. My dad was about to turn away and leave until he heard the story the sc had. The guy before we bought it was a pretty rich high baller and bought it brand new off the truck. He got into a fender bender (only a fender bender, no frame damage, nothing, just the rear bumper got smooshed in) but this guy didnt wanna pay and knew the owner of the insurance company and told him to put a salvage title on it so he could have a fresh, fully loaded sc instead of one with an accident (this is a true story, they had proof of repairs) so we bought it and I always got stuck getting cramed into the back of it, but I still thought it was a really beautiful car. and by the time I was 16, my mom was getting an '02 Lexus RX300 and I was gonna be next in line for it, and I was esstatic! I already started looking for headlights and rims, but then my sisters took the the place of urgency over me since some idiot T-Boned her 99 eclipse and totaled it. so here I am now, waiting patiently for my sister my step grandps, olds 88. And the sc (keep in mind, im getting this free as a project car and I cannot toss this up for anything) has 200,000 miles, a bad ECU, and the AC unit is out along wiring having to deal with lights (headlights and dashlights). it sounds crazy to start this but ive loved this car and now that ive heard of its performance pontial, im more amped an before.

I know it was a long story, but thats the whole truth, if you read it, ill be amazed lol

S0ulTuner

[QUOTE=KahnBB6;6844731] The looks took more time to grow on me. During the time I owned the Honda I learned all the basics that could be done to the SC's as well as many other cars: Starion, MKIII Supra, Mustang SVO, Buick Regal T-Type/GN, 90-93 Fox 5.0, 240SX, 86-91 FC FX-7, Celica All-Trac.
QUOTE]

Same as me except I have a Celica but was practically looking at the exact same car (except the Buick GN, those things are unbelievably expensive and rare now) but the SC drug me back after a while after I went thru a complete loop (even was thinking of turboing my 97 celica but I love that car is just not meant for that and I can get a good chunk of money for it now probably because where I am, one in as good of condition as mine is practically unheard of sadly enough still dont get why)

lemaylexus

Cool thread. I was working in Dallas in 2007, and after having seen a couple of turbo'd SC's around town (I lived in Plano), I realized that my coworker had a swap project SC he was working on. I ended up buying one later that year.

matrixgts

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=S0ulTuner;6846254] I know where a grand national is waiting for a new owner.

Mr.1.5

When I was 22 and got shot in one o_O! O what a night a pearl white SC400 with 18" wheels back in 1999. Yeah we were ballin but that night it seemed to be the biggest thing to catch the shooters eye. After that I realized I was living a rap video

Exthultu

iTrader: (3)

I was looking for a Supra, found the SC and fell in love with every single inch of it.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

^ that's better than only falling in love with all but one inch of it.

scguy

i bought 1 @ a auction a 93 black on tan 4 600$ had 200k miles so i was liery about it but i got it so cheap i was hey what they hell ill sell it 4 1500$ then i jumped on line and saw they sold 4 about 2-3500$ depending on condition. when i drove it home frm auction i sat in it i was like huh this isnt bad this is pretty freakn nice. as i started to do research on car i realized it had a 2jz engine i was like huh? i like this i said and as i drove it around till i sold it a week later i had goten used to the features it had that sme of my newr car didnt , soi bouth anotheer 1 had luck w/that 1 and finally i was like i gota get me 1 of these. im ase certified nissan tech i liked it so much i went to get certifeid lexus toyota scion just to wrk exclusivly onm sc300 around hear people knw they call me when they need there sc wrked on i love my sc