Everything JDM Fans Should Know About The Smokey Nagata Toyota Supra

In the Land of the Rising Sun, the streets are filled with iconic and unique car creations. From cartoonish tuned kei cars to outrageous JDM supercars, Japan's enthusiast scene has something for everyone. Think about a wild car, and there is probably one in Japan. So vibrant is the Japanese tuning scene that it literally conquered the world — and the Toyota Supra and its renowned 2JZ engine are at the front of the pack.

However, the most unique and probably best Supra ever doesn't have a 2JZ under the bonnet! Enter the Smokey Nagata Toyota Supra –- a car so wild that even the most creative enthusiasts couldn't imagine. It was born from a man's stubborn ambition to break speed records and his pure love for cars and engineering.

Kazuhiko "Smokey" Nagata, the notorious tuning champion and owner of the Top Secret tuning company, is not your typical engineer. Born and raised on the street racing scene but still very well-versed in automotive engineering, Smokey has the ability to infuse unique art in each of his creations. Most of all, he dares to do the seemingly impossible, like a V12 or RB26DETT-powered Supra, and make them work.

Fasten your seatbelts because this story will put you on a golden Supra rollercoaster, where you will read about speeding tickets, the Japanese Rolls-Royce, and pure engineering ingenuity. Here is everything you need to know about the Smokey Nagata Toyota Supra!

The Supra and its 2JZ engine set the bar for performance in 1994 when Toyota introduced its most advanced sports car. Meanwhile, the tuning scene started learning about the tough 2JZ-GTE engine and its extraordinary potential just a few years later.

However, instead of meddling with the now mythical powerplant, Nagata went on a different path –- a four-cylinder engine. Some might consider it heresy, but that was not your ordinary inline-4. It was the same unit that powered the Celica GT-Four, Toyota's rally-inspired street racer. Codenamed 3S-GTE, the 2.0-liter turbocharged unit produced 255 hp in its original form.

To satisfy Smokey's appetite for speed, the engine required quite a lot of modification. Nagata stroked it to 2.2 liters, installed beefier internal parts, and replaced the stock turbocharger with a much larger Trust/GReddy T88-34D one. The first Smokey Nagata also featured suspension, body, and brake system upgrades from brands such as RAYS, Alcorn, and Öhlins. The six-speed Getrag transmission was almost stock, though it was geared differently.

The result was a 700-hp widebody all-Japanese monster that reached more than 186 mph while having two more gears to work with. Quite impressive considering the number of cylinders; however, this Top Secret Supra was only the beginning.

While his first two Supra inventions were already making a stir in the tuning scene, Nagata was busy working on an even faster and more peculiar Supra. This time, it packed Toyota's and Japan's only V12 engine, though tuned to the extreme with a twin-turbo setup.

The result was a speed monster that reached a top speed of 222.4 mph on Nardo's circular test track in Italy. The 5.0-liter V12 Supra might not have been too much faster than the previous RB26DETT-powered model, but it carried much more cachet. A Japanese V12 engine has never been seen in a tuned Japanese car up to that point, and you can't beat the sound of a V12. Crucially, the engine inside the V12 Smokey Nagata Supra produced 930 hp and 745 lb-ft (1,010 Nm) of torque, stunning figures for a car launched in 2007.

Still, Nagata and his colleagues at Top Secret had a lot of work to reach that figure, as the original engine was designed with smoothness in mind. Thus, apart from running two HKS GT2540 turbines at 17 psi boost, Top Secret also designed a custom intake with 80 mm throttle bodies for each bank and a more advanced cooling system to keep the temperature in check. Dual HKS F-CON V Pro ECUs ensured everything ran like clockwork, and the customary nitrous oxide ensured the engine was at its full potential.

The third Smokey Nagata Toyota Supra is still one of the rare examples of all-Japanese tuned cars with Japanese V12 engines. There is a Toyota GT86 with a quad-turbo V12 version of Toyota's 1GZ-FE engine, probably inspired by Smokey Nagata's Supra. Meanwhile, New Zealand's Hartley Engines and Motorsport race a Nissan S14 drift car with the same V12, pleasing the crowd with its unique sound.

There are only a few other examples of V12-powered Japanese cars. That's because, for starters, those cars weren't designed with large engines in mind, and placing them under the bonnet is always a challenge. Then there is the fact that Toyota's V12 engine is quite rare simply because not many Century limousines are sold yearly. Not to mention, working on that engine is quite tricky, and there is not much aftermarket support.

However, this only adds to the appeal of Smokey Nagata's V12 Supra. When Top Secret first showed it to the world in 2007, it wowed the crowd and will continue to do so whenever it makes a public appearance. It is a sort of unicorn in the automotive world, and that probably won't change anytime soon!

Smokey is an engineer by heart and knows that cramming more power into a car won't necessarily make it faster. Bugatti, for instance, reached 253 mph with 1,001 hp, all thanks to its slippery body and a hydraulic suspension that lowers the car at higher speeds for an even greater aero advantage. The Smokey Nagata V12 Supra certainly had the power to (almost) match the Bugatti Veyron. However, Toyota didn't design Supra's body with such high velocities in mind –- the original 2JZ-powered MKIV model had only 320 hp on tap.

Thus, Nagata put a lot of emphasis on rebuilding the body. The Top Secret Super G-Force Wangan widebody kit looks much sleeker than other tuned Supras, with a lower rear wing (at first, the car had a higher GT wing) and a completely redesigned nose to aid aerodynamics. The V12 Supra also features Top Secret coilovers with Roberuta Cup kit, bringing it closer to the ground. However, Nagata also ensured the Supra was stable at its highest speeds -– the body also had enough downforce to keep it glued to the road.

Of course, Top Secret didn't have Bugatti's resources (like an aero tunnel), and Nagata could only design the body using software and sheer experience. As a result, the V12 Supra can't quite reach the same velocities as a Veyron, though at 229 mph, it is certainly no slouch.

By now, you were probably wondering -– how did Smokey get his nickname? Well, Kazuhaki Nagata is quite a childish fellow, one who won't miss doing a burnout whenever he sits behind the steering wheel. In that sense, he is almost like an anti-hero from a manga comic: a silent, non-assuming guy during the day but a driving maniac during the night. His shenanigans might not bode well with law-abiding citizens, but his character definitely attracts a particular octane-loving audience.

As much as Kazuhaki is known for smoking tires, he is even better known for his quest for speed. Every car the tuning lord develops is built to go faster, and Nagata almost always aims to reach 400 km/h (249 mph). He won't be the first to reach that speed globally, but he will undoubtedly be a pioneer in his own country. Building an all-Japanese sports car that reaches those velocities still motivates Smokey Nagata to this day.

Although the Supras are Nagata's most famous creations, he had to part ways with all three. The four-cylinder powered Supra was imported to Norway in 2005, though it returned to Japan later. Interestingly, Japan Auto, who were caretakers of the Supra at the time, had a fire at their warehouse. Luckily, the Top Secret Supra only finished with a burnt roof. The car then returned to Norway, only to be sold later to an unknown customer.

Meanwhile, RMC Miami, a company that sells collector and vintage sports cars, bought the RB26 Supra from a large Supra dealer in Japan. The company says the car has done more than 100,000 miles of street racing -– impressive considering the upgrades and sheer power. To keep the car on the road, the RB26 engine was sent back to Top Secret in 2020 for an engine rebuild, a new clutch, and new turbochargers.

The most famous V12 Supra is also in Florida, owned by the Trap Team workshop. The firm acquired the masterpiece for less than $90,000 at an auction in 2018 –- mind-blowing when you consider that average Supras currently fetch similar prices. Trap Team might have struck gold (pun intended), but on the other hand, the price stalled Nagata's work on another Supra. Let's just hope that he uses his wild imagination with the BMW-derived Toyota Supra MK5!