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I realize this is an old thread, but I thought I'd shed some light on the issue. The fact of the matter is, Toyota bases chassis codes on 2 things: model revision, and engine type. Then there is what is in the VIN, which is used to distinguish between trim levels (turbo/NA/etc).

W1 = 1st Gen MR2
W2 = 2nd Gen MR2
W3 = 3rd Gen MR2
A7 = 3rd Gen Supra
E8 = 4th Gen Corolla

Now of course the first letter added on is easy, it's just the engine family code.

AW1 = 1st Gen MR2 with A-series engine
SW2 = 2nd Gen MR2 with S-series engine
ZZW3 = 3rd Gen MR2 with ZZ-series engine
MA7 = 3rd Gen Supra with M-series engine
GA7 = 3rd Gen Supra with G-series engine
JZA7 = 3rd Gen Supra with JZ-series engine
AE8 = 4th Gen Corolla with A-series engine

Finally, the hard part, the last number, Toyota will have a "base" number that the chassis is, usually this is the model with the lowest engine family revision. Same engine family revisions get the same final chassis number.

AW10 = 1st gen MR2 with 3A engine
AW11 = 1st gen MR2 with 4A engine (4A-GE and 4A-GZE)
SW20 = 2nd gen MR2 with 3S engine (3S-GE (Japan) and 3S-GTE)
SW21 = 2nd gen MR2 with 5S engine
ZZW30 = 3rd gen MR2 with 1ZZ engine
MA70 = 3rd gen Supra with 7M engine (7M-GE and 7M-GTE)
GA70 = 3rd gen Supra with 1G engine (1G-E, 1G-FE, 1G-GE, 1G-GTE)
JZA70 = 3rd gen Supra with 1JZ engine
AE82 = 4th gen FWD Corolla with 4A engine
AE85 = 4th gen RWD Corolla with 3A engine
AE86 = 4th gen RWD Corolla with 4A engine

As can be seen here, if for example, the 2nd gen MR2 was offered with A-series engines, if it had the 4A and say, 7A for options, they would likely be the AW20 and AW21. If an imaginary 8M engine existed for the Supra, it would likely be an MA71, and if the 2JZ ever came in the MK3 Supra, it probably would have been called the JZA71.

For VIN numbers we get trim levels thrown in too. So even though all 7M-powered Supras are MA70's, the Turbo gets called an MA71 in the VIN, even though all 4A-powered 4th gen Corolla RWD's are AE86's, GT-S's get called AE88's in the VIN, and even though all 1st gen 4A-powered MR2's are AW11's, the SC'ed ones get called AW16's in the VIN.

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