The Toyota GR Supra Sport Top Concept is a fascinating preview of what a Supra convertible would be like.

The Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) is an annual event where aftermarket companies and OEMs come to display their tuned wares. Last year’s show was cancelled due to the pandemic, but it didn’t stop Toyota from hosting an online version.

For the 2021 event, the Japanese brand was keen to show off its creations. This is the Toyota GR Supra Sport Top Concept and it’s said to be a tribute to the adored Mk4 Supra of the early 1990s, which was available with a removable roof for some markets.

“We are very excited to finally get a chance to show off both of these incredibly cool GR Supra builds at the SEMA Show,” said Lisa Materazzo, group vice president – Toyota Division Marketing. “The team did some spectacular customization and fabrication work to pay tribute to Supras that came before, and we’re finally going to show them together so SEMA fans can see them up close and personal.”

This Toyota GR Supra Sport Top Concept is a proper conversion, built by Marty Schwerter and the Toyota Motorsports team.

“Toyota really wanted to have a companion to the Heritage Edition. But, this was no easy build, and we put a lot of thought into cutting the roof and removing a significant part of the car’s structure,” Schwerter said. “It was way more complicated than we originally thought. Removing the top was extremely tough and required some innovative work to retain the GR Supra’s rigidity. I love how it came out, and I hope others love it, too.”

> Read more:Toyota Supra Latest specs and pricing

Chopping a car’s roof off is not as easy as you’d think as in the vast majority of cars, the roof forms an integral part of the structure and rigidity. In some convertibles, the chassis and body can flex in extreme dynamic circumstances in a phenomenon known as scuttle shake.

In the case of the Toyota GR Supra Sport Top, the roof design features two 3D-printed composite roof panels which have been contoured to the body lines, so the vehicle retains its windshield header and bodywork by the outer roof structure. Impressively, the vehicle’s rigidity has been retained by the additional reinforcement from the engine bay to the back of the tub.

As a reminder, the Toyota GR Supra is powered by a 3.0-litre inline-6 turbocharged petrol engine and for our market, we get the 250 kW and 500 Nm state of tune. This is good for a claimed 0-100 kph of just 4.3 seconds and it’ll run to a top speed of 250 kph.

Further Reading

All-new Toyota GR 86 revealed

5 Things we learnt about the Toyota GR Yaris