If you’re familiar with the scene built around the fourth generation Toyota Supra, you may agree that the world’s best JZA80 community is that of the United States. Some of the cleanest builds come out of the US, providing an endless stream of inspiration for those of us who live elsewhere on the planet.
I’m proud to be part of the Supra community here in Germany; we have people who carry just as much (or even more) enthusiasm for our beloved car in their hearts as every other MKIV enthusiast.
Once every year, the official German Toyota Supra club – the German Supra MKIV Group – hosts a large gathering, usually at the Nürburgring, where Supra owners from all over Europe meet and have a great time.
As we all live in different parts of Germany, this once a year event doesn’t provide enough time to get to know other Supra addicts and make new friends. So I decided to host a small BBQ at my parents’ house especially for Supra owners living in the eastern part of Germany. All of the owners invited to what we ended up calling the ‘East Supra Fam BBQ’ expected a normal grill and chill, but with Supras. They should’ve known better, though…
As I said, the Supra scene stateside is a real influence when it comes to tasteful modifying and community life, and after dreaming to experience this first-hand I travelled to the US in 2016 with my closest car friend to take part in the Supras In Vegas event. What we witnessed was magic. The cars were insane and the community was beyond awesome; we made over 200 new friends and feel like we’re really a part of the US scene now.
Everybody knows the feeling of coming home after such a life changing experience – you can’t wait to do the same again. So we made the trip back in 2017.
On the back of these visits, we wanted to bring some US flavour to Germany, and a BBQ meet seemed like the perfect way to do it.
We wanted to make it an unforgettable day for everyone, which meant nailing all of the small details. Not only did I invite six of my closest Supra friends, but also Philipp Berndt, who is a friend of mine and handily also a photographer. Because what else attracts car owners more than pictures of their own cars?
Speaking of the cars, we had a large variety of different Supras present. Three were Japanese imports, two were German-spec cars, and one was a very rare Supra SE model from the US. Add Philipp’s recently restored R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R and a Nismo R34 GT-R belonging to another friend in the mix and things get pretty serious.
After everyone arrived, we talked, ate snacks and had a few drinks. Then we did the most simple thing ever: a shoot on a closed German autobahn.
Honestly, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. We drove one section of nearby autobahn for the rolling shots within normal traffic, and after that went to a freshly built – but still closed – part of the world famous German highway system for some static group shots.
When the shoot was done, we returned to my parents’ house for the part of the day I had been most looking forward to – the BBQ itself. I really wanted to see everyone’s bewildered faces when they saw the Toyota Supra napkins I had printed, canapés assembled in a Toyota logo, Supra branded steaks, and jello snacks with edible Toyota paper on them.
On top of that we also had a small awards ceremony with trophies for everyone. In my opinion, you can never go too over the top in making a small gathering as fun and memorable for everyone. I think the goal of having a great time with awesome people who don’t see each other that often was more than achieved.
The Supra family is truly special, and regardless if you’re in Vegas or Niederfrohna, which is my hometown and where this meet took place, meeting up with Supra people is always like a family affair.
Andy Kmoch
Instagram: ankracing
Photos by Philipp Berndt
Instagram: phigraphie
German Supra MKIV Group
Website: www.jza80.eu
Facebook: jza80group
Instagram: jza80group
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Cutting Room Floor
Nice shots and cars (very clean). So the big question are your Supra group looking forward to the MKV? You get the best of Japanese and German tuning?
Very good question, haha. Most of the German MKIV owners don´t look forward to the MKV, as they think, there´s just too much BMW inside this car. If the MKV wasn´t called Supra, nobody would complain about the partnership. But "Supra" is just such a big name.
In my personal opinion, it was a smart decision to team up with BMW for this car, because they build good and reliable inline 6 engines for decades. I just hope, that there´ll be not too much BMW influence, when it comes to the interior.
Yo that is dope!
Thank you so much, man!
nice FGGT96 plate
Haha never realized that! That´s a coincidence for sure!
Is the steak well done with bbq sauce? Yuck!!!!
Very cool to see how much effort was put into making this meetup special, and some truly amazing shots! Great looking group of cars all around
Really appreciate that, thank you, Devon.
So everyone wants to know if that rolling shot with lighting was actually that lucky cause that's ridiculous!!
Well....maybe!
Man, what are those pictures... Great shots. Congrats!
Awesome article (and nice cars)!
And I got to say I'm a bit envious of that location, "up north" (Hamburg) anytime we get the Autobahn closed down they immediately rip it up.
Also, congratulations on getting published here!
Max, I live up north atm and know the situation over here. Well, this particular autobahn, where this shoot took place, was freshly build, but not open for traffic yet. So we took the chance!
I got to head east someday...
Seemingly all we got up here is VAG-cars that look like their axles snapped.
VAG scene is still cool. I love their attention to details and how insanely clean those guys build cars.
Out of all the Japanese cars, those mid-90 Supras are my favorite. There's 2 really nasty, tuned Supras around my house. Lots of $$$ in them. That's about the only JDM car I would EVER drive. German cars can't be touched! But I do like the mid-90 Supras though. You should've seen the white, 911 GT3 I saw at Ray Catena service today. 3.9 badging. Black Fikse wheels and white roll bar. I was drooling! It's GOT to be German for me. Was that weather real or photo shopped? Scary-looking storms in those shots.
Hey David,
the weather with all the black clouds is acutally real. We were lucky enough, that the weather god had a card up his sleeve, as we started shooting.
Sure, we also love German cars, especially Porsches or in my case Mercedes-Benz´, but still, 90s vibes are best vibes! I own my MKIV for over 8 years now and can´t ever think of selling it.
Holy shit did those highway shots come out amazing! The thunderstorm must have been a gift and a curse. There are rare where I live, so it's cool to see what the world does with them.
The steak game needs some work though. You don't eat steak with bbq sauce! You want car-friend weekend bbq, make some carne asada cholo style. supra grill marks are pretty rad though
You´re right, it was a gift for the pictures and a curse aswell, as I absolutely hate driving the Supra in the rain.
Hahahaha. That´s how the Germans love their steak. I feel sorry. If there´s a future Supra BBQ, I´ll work on that.
No doubts you know how to supra there, you're making the MKV dreams come true.
The little details (napkins, stamped steaks,...) are astonishing. How you get Japanese spec Supras, RHD can pass the TÜV?
Really appreciate your words, thank you!
Well, it isn´t that complicated, as long as the car is close to stock. You just need to swap out the headlights for right hand traffic ones and add a fog light. As said, the car must be close to stock, as it´s getting harder and harder to register aftermarket parts in the paperwork of the car here. But the funny thing about Germany is, that there are more RHD Supra in our country than LHD ones. There were just 500 units sold here back in the day, so those are the rarest ones.
rhd is no issure for the tüv. you just need the eu spec lights for the tüv. it is not like the car is totally different to the japan spec version...
Nice Speedy Cars. Love it.
Thank you, Sam!
Awesome pictures, beautiful cars and scenery! Thanks for sharing. Cool details at the table
Thanks alot, Martin!
Very good question, haha. Most of the German MKIV owners don´t look forward to the MKV, as they think, there´s just too much BMW inside this car. If the MKV wasn´t called Supra, nobody would complain about the partnership. But "Supra" is just such a big name.
In my personal opinion, it was a smart decision to team up with BMW for this car, because they build good and reliable inline 6 engines for decades. I just hope, that there´ll be not too much BMW influence, when it comes to the interior.
It's all pork anyway. Would you rather it that medium rare?
Loving the vertical pics, we need more SH material for the mobile era.
Staff here is getting sensitive about amateurs writing better than them. Stop deleting my comments you pussies
There's only one pussy here, and that's the one hiding behind a fake name & e-mail address
Great photo composition!