Mercedes Stout? WTF? Yes, that was also my reaction when I read kyteler's posting on retro-classics!

Mercedes (Toyota) Stout pickup truck
Personally I like the 60s look of the Toyota Stout truck, but this Mercedes face swap actually looks great as well!

For sale for only 980,000 yen (10,000 dollar!) on Goo-net:
Mercedes (Toyota) Stout on Goo-net

Yesterday I spotted this amazing all original Toyota Carina GT-TR sedan on Goo-net:

Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63
The only modifications done to this Carina was adding set of 14 inch Watanabe rims and repairing the front airdam!

Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63
The car only traveled 82000 kilometers so far (that is 357 less than mine!) which is peanuts for a car like this!

Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63
It still has the original Twin Cam Turbo interior (GT-TR only) and the interior still looks spotless! Also note that this is one of the few GT-TRs which has no rollcage installed!

Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63
Engine surely looks like it did 82K, but no more and no less. ;)
Also note that there are no camberplates or strutbars installed. Car certainly has not been used as a circuit or drift car!

Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63
In other words: this is a very nice uncut gem! You possibly can't find a GT-TR in a better state than this!

If you are willing to spend 580.000 yen ($6600) on this beauty with full history it is certainly worth every penny (uh, yen?)!
You can find the car here:
Toyota Carina sedan GT-TR TA63 on goo-net

I found this Carina AA63 on Goo-net:

Carina AA63 20v Sedan
I know what you probably thought first: that must be a scale model!

Well, it is not! Have a look at this:

Carina AA63 20v Sedan
That looks a lot better, doesn't it? ;)
I have no clue what the photographer did wrong in that first picture, but is surely looks weird. Maybe it is the combination of the garage floor and the rollcage creating an illusion of a reflection in the windscreen...

4AGE 20v blacktop with a set of ITBs
This Carina GT-R got its heart swapped for a nice revving 4A-GE 20 valve Blacktop. As you can see the radiator has been upgraded as well. Also the owner did not bother to swap the cooling fan in the process.

Funny thing: I just realized that relocating the waterpump and distriubutor are not necessary for the Carina AA63: it sits more in front of the firewall than in the AE86! So all you have to do is reroute all piping of the radiator to the back of the engine! I verified this by looking at Revolverdrift's AA63 20v setup.

Unfortunately his Carina got stolen last week. So, if anyone has seen his car, in or outside Malaysia, please let him know! I hope it will return soon!

Talking about theft:

Anti fuel theft?
Looks weird... Only logical explanation I can come up with is that this car either has a fuelcell (not visible), a weird D1SL or MSC rule I'm not aware of or an anti fuel theft method. I suspect the most probable is the last explanation.

Rollcage, bucketseats and new tach
The rollcage is of the removable type so the cage itself is placed a bit annoying nearer to the center of the car. The rear bench has been stripped and a set of bucketseats have replaced the original front seats.

The car is sitting on a set of deep dished SSR Mk. IIs. The rims can't be much wider than 7J because they don't stick out of the fenders.

You would think: what's so special about this car then?
Well, the car itself isn't that special. It is more that the surprise picture caught my eye, then the anti fuel theft and then I also realized the 20v problem didn't apply to the AA63 Carina. So that's worth a Carina Sightings posting I guess. ;)

The Japanese cartuner Impulse is specialized in tuning and restoring Hachi Rokus (Toyota Corolla AE86). They are currently doing a terrific job on this 1983 Sprinter Trueno:

1983 Sprinter Trueno rebuild

Zenki GT Apex wiring loom
When running Google Translate on the page I got this translation under the wiring loom:
APEX based on vehicle type 1 for the first half of digital meters installed by default.
If I read this information correct the first batch of Zenki (type 1) GT Apex trim of the AE86 featured the digital dash by default. That would mean almost all 1983 and early 1984 hachis featuring a GT Apex trim should feature the digital dash unless the owner actually ordered the car with analogue dash. I tried to double check that with Carland86 and Goo-net and so far I could only verify that most early zenki (should that be zenki-zenki?) JDM Sprinter Trueno AE86s feature the digidash. Most of the Corolla Levins were all featuring the analogue cluster, so would it be a Sprinter Trueno only default? And would this also implicate Bunta Fujiwara did order a Trueno without digidash or that it is a late 1984 or early 1985 model??

To get back to the rebuild, look at how immaculate this rear bench is:

An immaculate rear AE86 bench
Never seen anything like it!

Eventhough this Sprinter Trueno probably used to be red/black once (due to the brown interior) it looks stunning in white:

Stunning panda AE86 painting

In may I posted this really nice Carina AA63:

Guess what I found on Goo-net:

Looks familiar?? On the first posting the van next to the carina has been removed and the surroundings have been blurred a bit more...

Nice thing is that we can read a bit more about the options on the car:
- Restorationnone (restorated??)
- 5 MT
- AC
- power steering
- plus power window
- 16-inch aluminum wheel (!)
- Aero parts attached
- Low-down configuration (do they mean lowered?)

And on the Japanse page it states the same as on the page of the garage:
5-valve turbo 4AG other interface details cooler oil cooler!

I think this is just about how I want my TA60 to become. :)
Only thing is that the car costs 1260000 yen, which is roughly 8700 euros (12000 dollars!). Compared to what it costs half a year ago (1630000 yen) that's 25% lower already. Bargain!!
Anyone got a donation for me??? :P