I generally try not to do this. Last time we looked at a imported, Japanese coupe from the early nineties. This time we’re looking at an imported, Japanese coupe from the early nineties. Funny how that shook out. Importing cars isn’t really that popular of a thing to do (it’s a super complicated process). Back in Pennsylvania, when I went out hunting for Forgotten Metal, the endless farmland and suburbs could be relied upon to throw up some rusty American relic, or maybe a British sports car. Enough to keep things fresh and different week to week. But New York City? You never quite know what you’re going to get. Lately its been imported, Japanese coupes from the early nineties. And last week’s GT-R I get: people reallylike GT-Rs. It’s obvious why someone would want to import one. This, though, is a little harder to pin down. So cue the music, it’s a Forgotten Metal Mystery. This is a 1991 Toyota Soarer.

Despite sharing the same country of origin and number of doors, this Toyota and last week’s GT-R are about as different as two cars can be. Where the GT-R was a twin-turbocharged ghost pepper, this is more of a leather-appointed potato leek soup. And I mean that in most affirming way possible: potato leek soup is delicious, and this is quite a nice vehicle. It isn’t a race car, though; it’s a luxury car. Now, in America, we call our fancy Toyotas “Lexuses,” and we give them to each other around the holidays with big red bows mounted to the roof. And in the early nineties, this was one of those $50,000 Secret Santa gifts.

It was called the Lexus SC, and it was drawn specifically for the American market in Toyota’s “Calty” design studio- the same place that came up with the peerless Toyota Previa. It was based on the same basic platform as another Fast and Furious icon: the fourth generation Toyota Supra, with which it also shared an engine. The SC was relatively popular throughout its run, though sales did drop off toward the end of the decade, probably due to Americans’ insatiable lust for SUVs. If you were paying attention earlier, however, this isn’t a Lexus SC at all. Here’s the thing: Toyota decided to sell a version of this car in their home country of Japan, but since the Lexus brand hadn’t been introduced there yet, they plunked it under the Toyota brand, and named it the Soarer. It’s exactly the same car as the American Lexus SC, minus the name and a few trim changes. Really, the only significant mechanical difference is that the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car. Which begs a question I have yet to find a satisfying answer to: why would anyone import a car that’s largely identical to one that’s already sold here?

Japanese consumers had a couple different engine choices. One was that Supra engine, the 2JZ-GE. It was a inline-six cylinder engine that developed around 230 horsepower- exactly the same as you got in an SC. Or you could have one with the 1UZ-FE: a four liter V8 developing close to 260 horsepower, which was again exactly the same as the 1UZ-FE in the Lexus. The Soarer did technically offer a turbocharged version of that inline six, the 2JZ-GTE, that never made it to our shores. And that one was offered with a five speed manual, which in America you could only get on the non-turbo version. Maybe that’s what this is? It made slightly more horsepower, around 280, so that’s something. But I don’t know if I really like that answer. You have to endure a lot of headaches when you import a car. You’ve got to get someone to drive your car to a dock, shunt it through customs, and put it on a boat. Then you have to wait for weeks, praying the boat doesn’t sink, or have a mutiny, or get attacked by pirates. And if none of that happens, you’ve got to deal with customs over here. Do you really think someone would go through all that for 20 additional horsepower?

Nisha Vora is the creator and chef behind Rainbow Plant Life, the vegan cooking blog, Instagram account, and YouTube Channel. She is the author of The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook. “The Nisha Call” Explanatory Note: For a more in-depth discussion of the Nisha Call and why I believe it to be significant, please see Why the Nisha Call Shows That Hae Was Murdered at 3:32 p.m. Of all the phone calls made on the day of Hae’s murder, this one is the hardest for all sides to explain.

Importing a Toyota Soarer is like watching Jurassic World. Yeah, it’s fine, it’s serviceable. But you could just buy a used SC, or watch Jurassic Park, and have a better time. Here, you’re paying more for a simulation of a slightly better thing. I don’t really understand why someone would do that. That’s why finding this car is such a mystery. By all rights, the Lexus SC is a nice car. But it’s not really a Forgotten Metal car- at least not yet. Time has not yet told us the full story of the SC. There’s a small aftermarket following, sure, probably owing to the Supra connection. But it’s small peanuts compared to the GT-R, or the Supra for that matter. That’s a car people will make little cartoon versions of to pin to signs for classic car shows, or tattoo on old men under names of women they used to love. I’m not so sure about the SC. Will we remember it in thirty years? In forty? Will Lexus bring back the SC name in fifty years for the anniversary? I doubt it. I don’t think its that culturally fundamental. But despite it being the exact same car as the SC, the Soarer is something interesting. It’s both familiar and foreign. It’s like having one of those dreams about your childhood bedroom but it’s off, somehow. That’s enough to qualify it for a Forgotten Metal post, but not enough to answer my original question: why is it here? Is it a diplomat’s car? Is there really just a big Soarer enthusiast living somewhere in the Financial District? We’ll probably never know.

Additional Thoughts

There are actually two modern successors to the Lexus SC. One is the RC, which looks like it was designed by Skyler White after she discovered her husband was really Heisenberg. Which is to say angrily, and with a knife. The other is the LC, which I actually think is quite good looking.
The SC/Soarer actually kept pretty close to the original concept, minus the inboard foglights.