Only sometimes, if ever, do you see something like this 1996 Toyota MR2. You may be familiar with the second version of the mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, T-top Toyota MR2, but did you know that the SW20 chassis was also available as a convertible from 1996 to 1999? You have now. We last saw an MR2 Spider from this period years ago, but one recently showed up at a Cars & Bids sale and sold for a cool $30,250. It’s not a change made by a third party. Instead, it’s an official modification made by Toyota Technocraft, a company that has been working on cars since the 1950s. Toyota Customizing & Development has done everything, from making changes to used vehicles to making their microbuses and finally starting the Special Development Division, which later became TRD. In the middle of the 1990s, the company took on the job of turning Toyota’s second-generation MR2s into convertibles. This was just one of many things they did, and business plans they changed often. Even though no one knows the exact number, there are probably around 90 finished models. They don’t show up very often. Most upgrades that used non-turbo 3S-GE engines went with automatic transmissions. Aside from their retractable cloth soft tops, you can tell them apart by their Lucerne Silver color and blue body moldings. The unusual color scheme on the moldings went well with the fabric picked for the seats and door panels. A tonneau cover is put on after removing the soft top and its plastic back window. Its old engine cover was replaced with a new one with two blisters, screened vents on either side, and a row of louvers running vertically down the middle to let engine heat escape. Without wings, the trunk lids had a slight upward kick toward the back before curving in the direction of the instantly familiar taillights from 1994 on. When the top is up, the MR2 Spider doesn’t look right because it doesn’t have back pillars that slope down. You might be unable to tell the frame from the side if it weren’t for the clear vents on the quarter panel. The car looks like a speedster when the top is down because of how the engine’s cover curves. If the winning bidder’s new product does make it to the market, it will probably not have a top.
