Yahoo Autos Toyota 'Suprabird' Pays Tribute to Richard Petty at the 2024 SEMA Show
The Suprabird was thought up by former Top Gear USA host Rutledge Wood; it's a Toyota GR Supra 3.0 Premium wearing a body kit inspired by the Plymouth Superbird.
The paint scheme is a tribute to NASCAR racer Richard Petty, in honor of a partnership between Toyota Gazoo Racing and Legacy Motor Club (formerly Petty GMS).
The Suprabird will be available as a Hot Wheels die-cast car.
You don't need to be a NASCAR fan to recognize a Petty car. Going all the way back to the 1950s when Lee Petty raced in a distinctive blue Plymouth, the family's stock cars have always been standouts, so when Toyota partnered with Legacy Motor Club (formerly Petty GMS Motorsports) for the 2024 NASCAR Cup season, it made sense to celebrate that union by building a Petty blue car for the 2024 SEMA show.
Toyota brand ambassador and former Top Gear USA host Rutledge Wood came up with the idea of blending a GR Supra with the most famous of Petty cars, Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird. "The vision was to re-create the aesthetic of the iconic Superbird in the form of a modern-day GR Supra," Wood says.
The Superbird was Plymouth's aero design, introduced in 1970 and intended to match the Dodge Charger Daytona's impressive superspeedway performance from the year before. The aero-cars featured extended nose cones and tall rear wings, which made them hard sells on the street, but made them record-setting on track. The cars did so well that NASCAR throttled them back after the 1970 season, but not before Petty won 18 races in his, and firmly imprinted its low, long profile on race fans' imagination.
It was this winning record, and lingering impression that Wood and Toyota aimed for in the creation of the Suprabird. It began life as a stock GR Supra 3.0 Premium with a cold-air intake and cat-back exhaust to make the six-cylinder sound more racy. Stiffer springs went underneath the Supra and custom 19-inch three-piece wheels—bright blue of course—anchor all four corners. The big mods are obvious, a body kit that pays homage to the famous Plymouth, without being too literal. It's got a big wing and an extended splitter, but it's not an attempt to slap the shelf-like Superbird wing on the back of the Supra, or bolt a pointy cone on the front. More direct is the paint scheme, signature Petty blue lettered up with Richard's #43 racing number.
While we're unlikely to see the Suprabird take the high banks at Daytona, fans will be able to take one home, at least in miniature. Hot Wheels will be offering die-cast versions of the Supra-Plymouth for those whose Petty collection won't be complete without one.
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