Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: starlet bugeye

Ebay treasures: Toyota Starlet KP61 V8 racecar


Now this is a real treasure: a Toyota Starlet KP61 Silhouette racecar for only a mere 3999 euro!
Starlet KP61 Racer V8
Starlet KP61 Racer V8

As you can see the bugeye Starlet got a lot of plastic surgery: widened (group 5?) fenders, a huge front air dam, an insanely big wing on the hatch and a dogbone Escort grille.

On the side profile you can still make out the cars original silhouette:
Starlet KP61 Racer V8
Starlet KP61 Racer V8

So it could very well be a Silhouette Racer! šŸ˜€

Starlet KP61 Racer V8
Starlet KP61 Racer V8

Looking at all the options included, apart from the (way too small) Minilite wheels, I’d say it is a pretty good deal:
– 4.2 V8
– roll cage
– fully adjustable suspension
– AP racing calipers
– Aluminum bucket seat
Now the big question remains: what engine would be hiding under that little bonnet?

Found at [B.M.S. @ Marktplaats]

Video: 1984 Fuji International Speedway 250km

I found this very good amateur video of the 1984 Fuji Gran Championship at Fuji International Speedway where a bunch of Sunny B110s, Sunny B310s, Starlet KP61s and first generations Honda Civics battled the TSA class 250km race. The competition is fierce and you can enjoy an 8 minutes spectacle of bumps, spins and drifts:

BTW: at 3:37 an unidentified car is going through the corner on 3 wheels. Anyone got an idea what car it is?

Direct link to video: ’84åƌ士GCē¬¬ļ¼’ęˆ¦ ćƒžć‚¤ćƒŠćƒ¼ćƒ„ćƒ¼ćƒŖćƒ³ć‚°ćƒ¬ćƒ¼ć‚¹ Bć‚³ćƒ¼ćƒŠćƒ¼ć§ć®ć‚¢ć‚Æć‚·ćƒ‡ćƒ³ćƒˆ

Motor-fan Magazine Starlet KP61 bugeye

Back in the 70s when image-rights were more expensive than a drawing made by an artist the magazines still featured very beautiful renderings of the latest models, just like this 1978 Starlet KP61 drawn for motor-fan magazine:
Motor-fan Magazine Starlet bugeye
Motor-fan Magazine Starlet bugeye

Personally I do believe a well drawn rendering is in most cases way better than a photoshoot that just didn’t work out…
Of course it can not compare to pictures taken by a skillful master! šŸ˜‰

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