Not many people know who Smokey Nagata is, but mention the word twin-turbo V12 Supra and things start to make a little more sense.
Sporting a Bruce Lee-like hairstyle and specs, he is the brains behind the Top Secret tuning garage in Japan.
Where it all began
Smokey worked as a mechanic at Trust tuning and after a while secretly started working on parts for his car and those of others behind the scenes.
WATCH: The Toyota Supra is a legend in its own right - Here's where it all started
He was eventually found out, but the owners refused to let him leave on condition he kept everything to himself. A year later he opened Top Secret - now you know how he came up with the name...
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Once the garage was up and running and building himself a reputation for creating and tuning high-performance cars like the Skyline, Supra, and NSX, a decision by Toyota set the wheels in motion for the V12 Supra project.
According to a documentary aired about the car, Smokey was furious with Toyota for not bringing out a successor to the MK4 Supra. He wanted to build something that would make them sit up and take notice.
Image: The Drive
He got to work using the 1998 Supra as a base, chucking the original 3.0-litre straight-six 2JZGTE engine and replaced it with a 5.0-litre V12 1GZ-FE that powered the luxurious Toyota Century limousine.
Although both engines made similar power, the V12 had the displacement for the abuse Smokey was about to dish out to it. It was mated to a six-speed gearbox which was responsible for transferring all that power to the rear wheels.
Image: The Drive
Fitting the colossal V12 engine was by no means an easy feat. It looks a like a completely different car with no resemblance to that of a Supra apart from the rear lights. It sports a G-force wide-body kit and signature gold paint job of the Top Secret stable and letting everyone know which garage it came out of.
While many would have considered that an achievement on its own, Smokey wasn't content with it. He wanted more - and more, in this case, meant adding a set of ball-bearing turbochargers. Space was already limited with the fitment of the engine but that didn't phase the 'tuning god'.
Take a look at the video of Smokey attempting to break the top speed record: