The MK4 Toyota Supra is a modern automotive masterpiece and icon. It inspired countless gearheads to build fast cars, was featured in movies, and its 2JZ engine is legendary. YouTube star Lee Carter owned one, sold it, bought it back, and stuffed a Dodge Hellephant HEMI into it.
Carter does some wild stuff on his ScrapLifeLee YouTube Channel, but this latest build could be the most insane one yet. A 1994 Toyota Supra is an iconic car to some, but to Lee, it’s just a vessel for automotive mayhem.
“I owned this car when I was in my mid-20s, and it had the 2JZ in it. The car just fell by the wayside, so I ended up selling it. Well, the guy I sold it to wasn’t really using it, so I ended up buying it back from him. The car had been turned into more of a race car, but that really wasn’t a problem,” Carter says.
The Supra had a concrete-filled 2JZ in it when Carter purchased it, but that engine was quickly pulled out. Carter wanted to build the Supra into a drag-and-drive car, and since he’s done so many HEMI swaps, it made sense to give Supra the Dodge treatment.
A Hellephant crate engine was procured for the project. To control the engine, Carter added a Holley Dominator ECU. The fuel system that feeds the hungry HEMI is made up of all Holley products. To send all the power back to the Mickey Thompson radial tires, a 501 Performance-built TH400 and torque converter were added to the mix. The final result is a 1,300-plus horsepower combination that’s got great street car manners.
“We’re equal opportunity destroyers, if you will. We’re working on a 2JZ-swapped Hellcat and a Honda K Series-swapped Hellcat, so putting the HEMI in this car is on brand for us. Once we get this car figured out, it should be running in the high sevens no problem,” Carter explains.
Every Supra purist that sees Lee’s car probably throws up a bit in their mouth, but Lee Carter didn’t build this car for them. It’s cool to see people still doing hot rod things to their rides in the name of going fast on their terms.