A Nervous First Dance

Kirby meets an old flame; tries not to get burnt during the introduction

- Cameron Kirby

I HAVE AN odd relationship with the Toyota Supra. I’m a massive fan of the JDM icon, but the first time I drove one it bit me, hard. You see, as a uni student I had a mate, Keeley, who was renowned for owning powerful modified cars – like a MkIV Supra aerotop that deployed nearly 600kW to tortured rear tyres.

Keeley threw me the keys to his pride and joy at a local track cruise as a birthday gift. But, foolishly, on my ‘warm-up’ lap I planted the throttle only to experience an aeon of turbo lag. When the volleyball-sized turbo finally did spool up, the tyres were as hapless as a watermelon hit by an anvil, and my unprepared and overconfident ass became a mere passenger as the car veered off-track.

No damage was done, and the friendship remained intact. Thick black skid marks that turn hard left into the dusty infield of Queensland Raceway is all that remain as a monument to my foolishness.

Now, with another decade of driving sensibility drilled into my brain, I find myself standing in front of another Supra. This time it’s the reborn MkV Supra GR in base GT guise, ‘mine’ for three months.