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1992 SC300 TMC Plant?

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Old Dec 27, 2021 | 09:42 AM
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Default 1992 SC300 TMC Plant?

I have a 1992 SC300 that was made in April 1992.
The VIN plant code is 1 for "TMC" but does not indicate which TMC plant built the car.
Wikipedia lists there were two TMC plants that build the SC:
Production of the Soarer started in April 1991 at the Motomachi plant in Toyota, Aichi,[3] with the Lexus SC produced alongside the Soarer at a second Higashi Fuji plant at Susono, Shizuoka.[4]
Is there a way to tell which TMC plant built my VIN, Motomachi or Higashi Fuji?
Thanks!
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Old Dec 27, 2021 | 07:18 PM
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Production of the Z30 Series Toyota Soarer, Lexus SC300/400 and Mark IV Toyota Supra JZA80 all came from the Motomachi Plant (located in Toyota City, Aichi) from 1991-1997 and then it seems production for all three cars shifted to the Higashi-Fuji Plant (located in Susono, Shizuoka) from 1997-2002. Production for the Z30 Soarer and SC300/400 ended in 2000 and the Supra stopped being exported to other countries after model year 1996 for Europe and after model year 1998 for the U.S. and Canada so this meant the MKIV Supra continued on as the sole car on the production line after model year 2000 until it was discontinued from Japanese sales after model year 2002 (due to upcoming then-new Japanese emissions regulations that it couldn't meet for 2003+).

Motomachi is where your 1992 SC would have been produced with the other models. I don't have the information as to why production for all three cars was shifted to Higashi-Fuji in 1997 but it did closely coincide with the introduction of VVT-i trim levels first in the Japanese market and a year later for U.S./Canadian markets.

Here's an older clip from the 1991 Best Motoring video that showcased the Motomachi assembly line for the Soarer and SC when the car had just been released. In it the super rare Soarer UZZ32 Active Suspension model is mentioned quite a lot but you can get a good look at how the cars were produced. There is no auto-translation available unfortunately.


Last edited by KahnBB6; Dec 27, 2021 at 07:24 PM.
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