It’s all well and good to see high-dollar professional builds done by a team with a race shop that looks like a lab. But sometimes, those done in a garage or a small unassuming shop can be even more impressive, given that these builds are often built on a limited budget, by one or two guys and in their spare time.
Consider this car’s achievements:
Best of Show at TORC (Toyota Owner’s & Restorer’s Club)
MOON EYES People’s Choice at the same show
Loaned to Toyota USA as part of the company display at the 2007 SEMA
But before you think that this car is just a pretty piece, consider that it has run a 9.6 second quarter mile using a turbocharged Toyota 4-banger. That quarter-mile best is all the more significant, because it used the stock 1969-era chassis with only an NHRA-legal rollcage to stiffen it. AE86 struts, tubular links and a narrowed Toyota minivan diff make up the suspension. Competition Engineering adjustable drag shocks control the suspension’s contortions.
The engine is a Toyota 3T-C, which is a 1.8 liter, hemi-head cam-in-block 4-banger that has been turbocharged and fitted with a nitrous system. All told, the engine produces 537 horsepower - at the wheels. Various transmissions have been run on the car, starting with beefed up Toyota trannies up to a Ford C-4 with a 5,500 rpm stall converter. Looking at the car from medium distance, you would think that it’s just a finely restored 1969 KE15 Toyota Corolla and nothing else. Until you hear the engine start up and see the car slay a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
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