The Toyota GR Supra Gets The Throwback Tail Lights It Always Deserved
The aftermarket kit draws on the best of the Supra’s heritage.
The Mk V Toyota Supra hasn't yet quite delivered on what many fans wanted from the halo sports car. Maligned for its BMW roots and with somewhat polarizing styling, it hasn't entirely won over the automotive world in the way that its predecessor did. If the Orion throwback tail light kit is anything to go by, though, the latest model could definitely benefit by drawing some cues from the much-loved Mk IV.
As reported by CarScoops, the redesigned tail lights were first posted as a rendering by designer Flat Hat3D. The design mimics the tail lights of the A80 Supra, also known as the Mk IV. The layout features four circular lamps, with the innermost serving as the reverse light, the outermost being an amber indicator, and the inner two acting as the brake and tail lamps.
In the Orion kit, LED lighting is used instead of incandescent lamps to replicate the style with a distinctly modern flair. The aftermarket tail lights go a long way to making the car look a lot more like a Supra, especially compared to the relatively generic tail lights the car comes with as stock.
These glorious lights won't just remain as fancy drawings on a computer screen, however. Aftermarket lighting supplier BRZ-ZZZ has begun accepting orders for the Orion tail light package, in both an exposed and covered version. The lights retail for $1200, or $1400 for the exposed version, though the initial run appears to be sold out at this stage. First shipments are expected in early 2022.
It's almost surprising that Toyota didn't go down a similar route itself with the A90 Supra. When Nissan developed the R35 GT-R, it was sure to replicate the four round tail lights made famous on the preceding Skyline models as a nod to the nameplate's storied heritage. The Supra line, which initially started as a trim level of the Celica, hasn't got a huge list of signature styling features. The tail lights could have been one of them.
Toyota hasn't been entirely ignorant of its past, however. The company brought a targa top version to SEMA in 2020 as a throwback to the glorious Aerotop model of the 90s as seen in The Fast and The Furious.
Bringing the Mk IV tail light design into the new model would have gone some way to endearing people to the new model. Of course, the fancy lights may have added more cost and complexity to a model that already sits at a tough price point in the marketplace.
If there's any justice in the world, the Orion tail lights will be a mandatory feature of any new Supra build heading to Auto Salon or SEMA from now on. Bless the aftermarket when it delivers us the lights as they should be.
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