Florida model Jessica Barton isn't just a pretty face -- she was a pretty face with a sick 1994 Toyota Supra tuner that pumped out a ludicrous 1,160-hp from its legendary 2JZ engine. Was. Unfortunately, Barton's pride and joy was stolen from her on January 3. Today, Florida authorities finally recovered the vehicle, but not before it was already stripped and parted at a chop shop. Tragically, what's left of the beast is nothing more than a scrap heap of anguish.
A model particularly involved in import tuner circles, Jessica Barton has graced the covers of magazines including "Axis," "Makes and Models," "Superstreet," "Modified," and has even done pictorials for "FHM" and "Playboy." Barton also starred in a bizarre stripper vs. the undead movie "Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!"
Thanks to a rather successful career as an import model, Barton started to get well connected in the JDM tuner world and was soon infected with the bug as well. Meticulously built, Jessica's gunmetal Toyota Supra dominated the drag strips and turned as many heads as Jessica herself. In many occasions, Jessica's Supra out muscled the likes of Nissan GT-Rs and Lamborghinis. A combination of turbocharging and nitrous oxide, the Supra even rockets down the quarter mile in just 8.64 seconds.
Details surrounding the theft of the Supra are limited but according to Jessica Barton, the sports car was stolen last Wednesday in the Waterford, Florida area between 10 p.m. through 4 a.m. Although thefts are less prevalent in recent years, experienced car thieves know to target tuners and hot rods due to the amount of expensive parts and custom components in the car as well as for the lack of anti-theft devices found in older models.
As the Supra likely possessed in excess of $50,000 in upgrades, Jessica Barton desperately put up a $5,000 reward to encourage eyewitnesses to speak up and help her find her car. Unfortunately, the car was ultimately lost. Earlier today, the model shared a photo of the Supra in pieces piled over a dirt lot. In a rather tear jerking comment, Barton said, "That car has been evolving over 8 years and hundreds of thousands probably invested in it. I could never just build another one. It's impossible to do all this again. It's a devastating loss to me."
Those of us that don't understand will simply think, "It's just a car." However, for the individuals that dedicated their blood, sweat, and tears, to create the car of their dreams, the thought of losing a pride and joy without the means to have another one is exceptionally brutal.
Due to the sheer rarity of the parts in Jessica Barton's car, it should immediately help authorities and eagle eye enthusiasts identify the thieves or the men involved should the parts to found installed in another vehicle. What's more, Barton's many car enthusiast friends and fans also vowed to help the model comb through Craigslist to recover these parts.
Finally, let's remember Barton's departed Supra when it was at its best. Check out the Supra performing a blistering quarter mile run:
