Toyota Supra mk1

Every legend starts somewhere humble; the Supra started life as a Toyota Celica... with a big ol' nose to make room for a bigger engine. Launched in 1978 as the Celica Supra (Celica XX at home in Japan), the A40 and its A50 follow-up were Toyota's answer to the Datsun Z, which had been quietly running off with the affordable grand-tourer market. The recipe was straightforward: take the practical Celica liftback, stretch it out like Mister Fantastic, and swap the four-cylinder for a smooth inline-six.

It was, by design, more boulevard cruiser than back-road weapon. The 2.6-liter six, later a 2.8, made only around 110 horsepower, and the cabin leaned plush rather than sporting, with trimmings that bordered on luxury for the era. The point was refinement and easy cruising, not lap times.

For collectors this is the genesis car, the one that set down the front-engine, rear-drive, straight-six layout every Supra since has honored. Survivors are genuinely scarce, since most were driven into the ground long before anyone thought to save them. If you want the literal first chapter of the story and don't mind that it ambles rather than sprints, the A40 is a charming and increasingly hard-to-find place to begin.