The 2JZ engine has attained mythical status in recent years owing to its tunability and reliability, relatively speaking. It is an engine block used in the Supra and with the popularity of Fast and Furious, it seemingly found itself under many grocery getters for making big power. But, from the factory, the Supra wasn’t the only place Toyota put the 2JZ. Its various iterations are found in more obscure and weird cars. Here are 3 examples.
The most boring home of the 2JZ was arguably in the Toyota Progres. The word progress is French for the word, no points for guessing, progress as it showcased Japanese engineering at its finest, according to media jargon that is. The 2JZ found in the progres was the Naturally Aspirated one code-named GE and had more efficient FSE as compared to the Twin Turbo GTE. It produced 220hp and mated to a 4-speed Automatic Gearbox. As a commuter, it was brilliant as it had GPS in 1998, a revolutionary feature for the time and the interior had nice trimmings and 6 airbags too. If you fancy importing one, make sure to do a manual swap and you will have an amazing sleeper!
Today, if you go into the international market searching for a clean supra, you would need to pay at least Rs. 2 crores. At that price, it is overrated, contrary to popular belief. What if we told you, you could buy the same engine but with a different logo for under Rs.10 Lakhs. You wouldn’t believe us but we would like to welcome you to the Lexus SC300. It has essentially the same engine as the Supra and the only difference between the two is the oil pan and cold air intake, as Lexus was geared for luxury rather than sporty grand touring. But, due to the research and development done, there are much nicer twin turbo setups available which can give you the same performance as the Toyota but for 4800% cheaper.
It bamboozles me that if it wasn’t for Fast and Furious playing a huge role in hiking the prices and having used the SC300 instead, where would we be? Also, if you are nerdy you can have a look at the forums from the mid-2000s where people were debating which coupe would retain its value and people used to argue that SC300 would retain it better because Lexus was the more aspirational brand. How the Tables Turned On That?!
Some people know about the next one but it goes highly underappreciated. The Altezza A300/ Lexus IS300 was fitted with the 2JZ GE engine and later in life, offered a 6-speed manual. We were fortunate to check one of these Japanese sedans and it is a one-of-a-kind experience thanks to the impressive power delivery and adaptability to most conditions. Better yet, internationally, this car was also sold as an estate meaning a 2JZ manual station wagon did exist after all. In India, you would be lucky to find one as there are only 3 available which makes it rarer than even a Lamborghini Huracan! How’s that for bragging rights?
The Toyota Origin was loosely based on the Toyota Progres. The only reason I chose this was because it reminded me of the Sheriff from Cars movie. As my inner child blossoms, the origin is powered by the same 2JZ naturally aspirated engine but it is a lot more interesting. It had an uncanny resemblance to the Toyota Century as it had Suicide Doors and was built by the same group of engineers who were trained to build the V12 Toyota Century. Also, it carries underpinnings which made the Toyota Crown and the convincing effort of grafting a look from the 50s is just hard to ignore. Only 1000 were made globally making it one of the rarest cars with the 2JZ!
