Historical Supra-sonic newsletter issues! Anyone know about them?

[Suprafanatic]

Hey all,

I recently acquired the folowing original issues of the Celica Supra Club newsletter, Supra-Sonic ! and wondered if any of you have or know of where I can get the missing issues to complete the collection. These are ultra rare and are becoming one of my more prized finds! Looks like they were all made up on one of those type writer things with the hammer style keys :facesjump and printed fully in B/W.

I have:

Summer 1984
Fall 1984
Winter 1984/85
Summer 1985
Fall 1985
Winter 1985/86
Spring 1986
Summer 1986
Fall 1986
Winter 1986/87

Reading these is like taking a trip back in time. There are some road test reports and a lot of owner feedback articles, performance articles, rarities like a T-top MKII and the HKS M-300 twin turbo 85 P-type, which provide some interesting and sometimes comical reading.

I think I'm missing these issues to make the full series:

all issues pre-summer 1984 - I don't know when this started being printed
Spring 1985
all issues post winter 86/87

I'm planning to eventually scan all my issues so you all can enjoy these tidbits of history, but time is scarce for it at the moment. I'll keep you posted. Once I complete the set is prolly when I'll be excited enough to scan them all. Here is the cover of one of them - actually, I can't post attachments for some reason.....

If you can help out, I would sure appricate it.

[CJSREDPRA]

I know of someone in Vegas who has a large collection of the MKII era ones. Will let him chime in if he wishes. I got to see them in 2004. And yes, he does post here. BTW, I'm 100% sure he won't be parting with them, they're very valuable "library reference materials" that come in handy for such purposes. And the cool part is that he was featured in one of the issues back when his primary residence was back in New York & not Vegas.. (lets just say he was par-taking in a track day @ Watkins Glen w/ his MKII that is now his partsmobile).

Just from looking at those issues, did I realize that the owners back in the day absolutely RAVED about the Bridgestone Potenza V137's & they said that the Dunlop SP Sport D3's royally sucked!!! Interesting.....

[Suprafanatic]

That's GREAT to hear that there are more copies out there! Hopefully we can put ours together and get a complete collection, whether they are originals or not matters little to me - I'd just like to have a full set for posterity sake and ensure that the info is not lost to everyone!

[AJ]

I have a number of Supra-Sonic issues (not for sale) and I even have the issue with Mr. Greg G's car featured in the issue, I need him to autograph the issue one day.

Phil rarely if ever they do, the issues appear on eBay.

[batmobile]

`1

[Suprafanatic]

I have a number of Supra-Sonic issues (not for sale) and I even have the issue with Mr. Greg G's car featured in the issue, I need him to autograph the issue one day.

Phil rarely if ever they do, the issues appear on eBay.


AJ,
The ones I have I bought on eBay - stumbled across quite by accident actually......

Which issues do you have?

[Greg G]

I have the complete collection of them. They were the quarterly newletter for Celica Supra Club members. I consider them my early foundation in learning about, and understanding my car. This is how car people corresponded before the internet. I hvnt looked at mine in years, but IIRC they started late in 82 or early 83 and ran thru 90 or 91. Thats when the club dried up. I believe the couple who ran it have since passed away.

Scanning them sounds like a very ambitious project, useful and appreciated none-the-less!

LOL and yea Arch, my Bluepra was featured in one of the issues!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Supra/41.jpg

[Greg G]

And the cool part is that he was featured in one of the issues back when his primary residence was back in New York & not Vegas.. (lets just say he was par-taking in a track day @ Watkins Glen w/ his MKII that is now his partsmobile).


Chris, find out which issue Allan was in... I wanna look for it! Cool!

[CJSREDPRA]

Congratulations Greg for figuring out that it's our own Alan Goodsite (AlanG) that's featured in 1 of the issues. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one it was & it's been 13 months since I saw the collection in Vegas. You're gonna have to PM Alan to see which one it was.

All I can remember is that his car is in 2 pictures, one was a group head-on picture on a straightaway, the other was a single side profile shot of his car.

The car is a 84 Redpra P-Type (like it's really obvious in the B+W pictures), and he still has it to this day, although it's now his partsmobile & it's parked on the side of his house (I got to see it 3 - 4 years ago).

Greg is correct. JUST the MKII issues alone probably take up at least 1 THICK LARGE notebook binder, & would be a VERY large project to scan all of them in. Not something you can do in a weekend.

[Greg G]

So I dug out my old Supra-Sonic newletters tonight... so glad Phil brought this topic up. It was great to revisit all the articles and photos from these primitive booklets. I counted 24 issues starting with June 1983... I think that is the first issue ever (but I could be wrong - let me know if anyone has an earlier edition). I snapped some very quick and half-assed pix just to give people an idea of what we're talking about here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/Sonic1a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/sonic3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/sonic4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/greg84mk2/Forums/sonic5.jpg

[Phil G.]

Haha - they also covered the "new" front wheel drive (1986) Celica and GT-S in one of those issues (next to the issue with what seems like a hottie posing). So that's probably around where it ended I guess (86)?

Nice work Greg!

PS - my sister had a first generation fwd Celica (1986 GT-S 2.0 automatic). What a piece of crap.

[CJSREDPRA]

Greg,

Did you find any Watkins Glen articles in the issues you have??? Alan's name is mentioned in the text. If not, then it's possible that it's a issue that you're missing.

[Rich64N]

OK showing my age here too, I remember these. I should contact a old friend/roomate to see if he still has his copies (saw his name in the news a few weeks ago). After ruining his Supra by running it with no oil, he bought a MR2. Ruined that car too. But in the spirit of Christmas, guess I could send out a card. But knowing his wife, she has probably tossed everything.

[turbo MKI]

That's GREAT to hear that there are more copies out there! Hopefully we can put ours together and get a complete collection, whether they are originals or not matters little to me - I'd just like to have a full set for posterity sake and ensure that the info is not lost to everyone!
Yo Phil - I didnt know you were interested in these - I have a 2 inch stack of them! Not sure which years they go from - I'll have to double check.

[DanSommer]

I googled "Supra-Sonic!" and found this thread. I know it's been ages since the thread was last replyed to but I'm hoping somebody will respond.

I'm the proud owner of original "Supra-Sonic" newsletters Vol. 1 No. 2 through Vol. 8 No. 2. including all the special inserts and bulletins.

I was wondering if anyone (Phil?) eventually scanned and posted the contents in issues that he was able to obtain?

[zank]

Wow this thread is old, but im sure Greg is still working on it ;) LOL

[DanSommer]

Well Zank, it looks like you and me are the only ones listening. I was hopeful that I could at least get Phil's ear and possibly Greg's ear with your comment. Maybe they'll chime in after a few more posts unless you have another way of getting their attention.

I did a little more looking around and it appears that Phil (aka "Suprafanatic"), "Greg G" and "turbo MKI" have the back issues of Supra-Sonic! Phil expressed an interest in posting all the back issues back in December 2005. I wanted to see if he was able to do anything with the project or if anyone else made an attempt.

I was also thinking about posting the back issues but didn't want to duplicate efforts and wanted to see if anyone had done some of the work. I was thinking about posting in a dual format - 1) entire issues within a graphic format to keep the look and feel of the original newsletter 2) text format so that the contents can be searched.

Give me your thoughts.

[Greg G]

While I appreciate your enthusiasm Dan, this project aint gonna get wings.

These newsletters are 15-20 pgs long each, and I have roughly 20-25 issues - theres a lifetime's career of scanning all that material.

Truth is, much of the information therein can be yielded from this very site anyways.

For me, the attraction to these newsletters are the "period" or rather era contents.

Vintage photos and philosphies and whatnot.

Most all of you know I enjoy sharing my cool stuff, but for this one, Im out.

[SilverMk2]

One of these days I will sit down and scan the ones I have. Its a lot of work though the stack I have is a couple of inches high. There really isn't anything that useful in them that I saw other than the cool factor of having them.

[silverton]

If I had them I would spend the time scanning them. I don't really have much of a personal life >.<

[Malloy]

Greg: How did you find out about this back in the 80s? Did they advertise in the back od Car & Driver or something?

[AJ]

Mike, IIRC either Road & Track or Car & Driver, have to check out back issues of these to see if I can find the "ad"...

[Greg G]

Greg: How did you find out about this back in the 80s? Did they advertise in the back od Car & Driver or something?


Mike, IIRC either Road & Track or Car & Driver, have to check out back issues of these to see if I can find the "ad"...

Correct... the "club" was created by an enthusiastic husband and wife team in SoCal. I recall they owned an L-Type, and can only imagine the effort they put into producing a quarterly newsletter. 25 bux got you a decal and 4 issues of Supra-Sonic. They ran tiny ads in the back of popular car rags.

I dont think it disbanded due to dwindling following, but rather the husband and wife grew tired and could not find anyone qualified enough to take it over. Thus they killed it.

[Suprafanatic]

I wasn't ignoring anyone. :naughty:
I really haven't had a chance to even think about this to be honest. Eventually, I'd like to pdf them all so anyone can have a set, but that takes time or money.... :eekfacepalm:
Mine aren't going anywhere soon so don't worry about them being lost. If everyone who has them could compile a list of which issues they have so we know what is out there, that would help. That way, we don't all scan the same ones, as DanSommer mentioned earlier.

[Malloy]

What size are they? I could pdf them pretty quickly if they are 8.5x11 or smaller

[DanSommer]

I'm pretty sure the material is copyrighted. I'm not that familiar with copyright law but does anyone know if we need to get permission from the husband and wife team that Greg mentioned?

[Greg G]

The husband and wife were in their latter 60's back in 1983...

Sadly I dont think theyre with us any longer.

[DanSommer]

The Spring 1985 edition had two editorial comments. The first was from John & Madeline Molis - the founders of the Newsletter giving their fondest adieus. The second was from Ralph & Doris Wenter - the people taking the reins. The remaining issues that I have all have "Ralph & Doris" at the end of the "Editor's Desk" section.

Anybody ever talk to either pair?

[AJ]

From Supra~Sonic Summer 1990

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/AJ9o4/Magazine%20Articles/CSClubGG.jpg

[AJ]

Back Cover As Supra~Sonic Summer 1986

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/AJ9o4/Magazine%20Articles/HKS1.jpg

[AJ]

Supra~Sonic Index

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/AJ9o4/Magazine%20Articles/SupraSonicindx.jpg

[AJ]

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u164/AJ9o4/Magazine%20Articles/SupraSonicindx1.jpg

[CELICA GTS]

hahahha...I think this is funny for the spring 1984-one of the subjects was speedometer jitter....even back then those were a problem

[doug82supra]

"clicking under the dash"....Fall '85 lol