1997 Toyota Supra fetches $176K at Barrett-Jackson

A black-over-black 1997 Toyota Supra has sold at Barrett-Jackson’s Northeast 2019 auction for  $176,000 (including commission), a rather remarkable price for a Supra with almost 70,000 miles on the odometer.

One could argue that the high price is justified because this is a particularly rare car. It’s an Anniversary Edition, which was only available in 1997, and it is one of only 376 Anniversary cars in black with a Targa roof. The Supra has two previous owners and the photos show a clean body and interior, complete with Anniversary Edition badging on the shifter surround, and a relatively clean engine bay. Still, with an aftermarket exhaust and lowered springs, it’s not the kind of pristine, original, low-mileage car that you’d expect to fetch record bidding.

We checked with Hagerty valuation expert Greg Ingold for more insight: “This is an incredible price for a Mk IV Supra. Prices like this are generally reserved for cars with little to no miles.”

It is, however, the second Gen IV Supra to recently get big money. Just a few months ago, a fourth-generation 1994 Supra sold for $173,600 at RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island auction. However, that car had been driven for just 11,200 miles since new and, rated to be in 2+ condition, it was considered to be in much better overall condition than the ’97 model that just sold.

In Ingold’s opinion, “This [$176,000] price is an outlier, but time will tell if this is indicating a continuing hot market or just Barrett-Jackson’s ability to bring big money for average cars.”

If anything, it’s confirmation that the Supra hype is far from over—expect more big sales to come in the year ahead.