Massaged into the Japanese road regulations and dimensions, the EX1 was altered for 2 years until in 1971, the first pre-production model of the A20 Celica appeared. While it was a departure from the purely Italian inspired EX1, the Celica gained instant popularity as the affordable stylish coupe. For many families in Japan, this was their first sports car, which came in at a price point far less than previously available Nissan Fairlady Z and even less than the diminutive but high-strung Honda S800/660.

The A20, as TA/RA22, 25 and successors were updated continuously for 7 generations till the line was ended in 2006.
Spurring off from this line were the Celica XX (Supra) which carried the original RWD platform identity after Celica T160 became front wheel drive. So we can also say that the Supra lineage traces back to the EX1 as well.

My dad owned a 1972 and a 1978... As were many of the fathers of my peers in my class. They were all so proud of the Japanese sports cars in that era. Moms were happy dads were proud and happy. Japan was a neat place back in the day.  It wasn't super high tech, or affluent as a nation just 25 years post-war, but people had visions and aspirations.

I would fight to have a front passenger's seat as the little coupe didn't have much of a window to see out from the rear.
A far cry from today when kids prefer the back seat and their Nintendo on 7" screens inside minivans.

Times do change. And it is no wonder that I am so engulfed in sports cars as a middle aged man to this day. I grew up with them, thinking these little sports cars were the best things in the world, the little world that I knew that was 1970's Japan.

The Supra had a very popular life, evolving from this XX to the next generation of A64, and MA70, and finally the very iconic JZA80. All of the XX/Supra had body designs like no other car, with very dashing and bold looks that were really original to the car, especially the MA64 and MA70.

All of the XX/Supra were built in Japan, none built abroad.
All the way to the last Supra in August of 2002, when the last few hundred JZA80 chassis were pulled off the production line, and hand-assembled in Motomachi Plant before being converted to the very facility where the Lexus LFA was to be built by hand as well.
These LAST of the few hundred model year 2002 Supra, in extremely low numbers of 200 or so, are considered the "Holy Grail of the Supra," as they are rumored to have extra attention to detail for assembly from body to engine.

Photos: Wikipedia commons