Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: wolf in sheep’s clothing

Down on the Street: EVO IX on the third floor!

I spotted this Mitsubishi EVO nine two weeks ago in a parking garage in my hometown.
2007 Mitsubishi Evo IX
It is a bit hard to see on this blurry picture, but there was a pair of glasses on the dash that literally shouted “old guy in midlife-crisis”.

My biggest objection against the EVO is the too-big-for-my-taste wing on its tail:
2007 Mitsubishi Evo IX
I can remember seeing a modified EVO IX some time ago where the big wing was replaced by a saner little small wing. Perfect wolf in sheep’s clothing. 😉

This EVO definitely was one of the cleanest I’ve seen so far, but given the glasses it could hardly be trashed.

What car did this Levin borrow its grille from?

It is always nice to see owners mix and match parts from other cars. In this case this Levin is a mix and match of a kouki Levin (eyebrows on the headlights and bumper with wrap around indicator lights) and some grille I’ve seen before…
Corolla Levin AE86 with Mark II Grille
Now where did I see that before?? Is it from another E80 Corolla? Can’t remember the E80 ever had such a grille…

Perhaps another Toyota then? So how about this wagon then?? Continue reading

JAF2011: First impression and a purple beams AE86!


The first impressions on the Japans Autosport Festival were that there were waaaaaay too many Skylines in the Netherlands. I think I saw more than 100 R32/R33/R34s and most of them were riced out. On the other hand there were some really nice examples as well!

What was most interesting was this purple hachi I spotted three and a half years ago in someones garage without an engine in it.
Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop
Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop

The owner sold me his 15 inch Celica-Supra rims and just casually told me he owned a couple of Celicas, a Starlet EP70 with a 3SGTE in it and an AE86 as well. So of course I got very interested to see the AE86 and the Starlet. The AE86 looked already as great as the photo above but only lacked its engine…

Shortyly before the JAF the project finally met its end and its 4AGE made way for a different engine. At first the owner planned a 1JZ-swap, but changed his plans and went for a 3SGE Beams blacktop mated to a W58 supra gearbox by a JDM 1S Carina bellhousing!

As you can see the 3SGE blacktop is a tight fit for the AE86:
Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop
Purple Corolla Levin AE86 with 3S-GE Beams blacktop

He told me he had to modify the bellhousing because the starter engine was on the wrong side, so he tool the bellhousing of the 4A and had the starter position welded on the other side. You can’t tell unless you look up close and look really well. Very nice to see such a project getting a good ending!

The funny thing was that I would have expected it to be a very loud engine but he used a bone stock muffler of a Hyundai Scoupe and it just sounded like a stock 4AGE! So literally you have a wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing!

More pictures of the festival will follow when I’ve developed the films from my camera. 🙂

DOTS: Sheepish Porsche 911

Last week I spent a couple of days in Berlin. Of course I hoped to spot some nice JDM tin but the most interesting Japanese car I found was a rusty Corolla Liftback AE90. Either the Germans love their own cars so much that they don’t buy anything but Porsche, Mercedes or BMW, or it could have been that the center of Berlin (Charlottenburg and Mitte) are only occupied by the rich and famous.

Personally, given this example found in the street of my hotel, I think it was the latter:
Sheepish 911 (actually a 997)
Sheepish 911 (997 model)

Apparently owning a Porsche 911 (996997 model) is not enough anymore, but also a vanity plate with 911 in it is needed! The plate bleats 911 all over it. Would that have been on purpose? This 996997 isn’t particular a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 😉

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