Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: toyota corolla (Page 1 of 6)

Salaryman’s Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 – Family Album Treasures

Usually, I would say a typical Japanese salaryman would contrast heavily with a Toyota Corolla Levin AE86. However, the photo below proves me wrong: the salaryman is just as panda as the paint scheme of the AE86!

Salaryman's two door Toyota Corolla Levin AE86
Salaryman’s two door Toyota Corolla Levin AE86

The only thing off is the grey tie: this should have been a black one like the black stripe on the Levin!

Via DivinaPapaya

Double rally monster Levin Delta Integrale – AE86 Wall of Shame

Someone sent me a picture of this Lancia Delta Integrale with a Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 front end crafted on it. I don’t remember who sent it and I’ve searched to no avail through my WhatsApp history. So if you are the person who sent it to me: very much appreciated and you deserve all the credit!

Lancia Delta Integrale with Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 front swap
Lancia Delta Integrale with Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 front swap

The Delta Integrale is about the same red as the panda-red AE86 colour scheme. I love the previous owner retained the panda-paint scheme on the front bumper. It would have been even more radical if the whole Delta Integrale had received some panda-paint as well. However, the Delta Integrale doesn’t feature the necessary lines to support that.

The photo is a typical Japanese car auction photo, so my guess is that it went through auctions some time ago. I’m not a big enough expert to distinguish the 8V from the 16V Integrale. All that I know is that it looks mad enough! So, what do you think? Blasmephy or the perfect marriage?

Pre-production Corolla Levin SE AE85 – Friday Video

One of the highlights of this year was a WhatsApp call from Daniel ‘O Grady out of the blue about an early Corolla Levin SE AE85 he found. I was doing my usual Saturday groceries and just parked my car in a parking garage. Daniel was very agitated about this car as it had such a low frame number.

6600 kilometer Toyota Corolla Levin SE AE85
6600 kilometer Toyota Corolla Levin SE AE85

During the call, it dawned on me that such a low frame number meant it was actually a pre-production run. Last year I created an overview of the AE86 and AE85 frame numbers and a lookup function. One of the things that surprised me was that the AE85 production in May 1983 started at 180, while AE86 production started at 1. There are no records of the pre-180 frame numbers in the EPC either. This means these cars have been assembled in pre-production.

Continue reading

This Levin AE86 got one up to 87 in 88! – Family Album Treasures

What is the most comfortable place of your Levin AE86? What’s the best intake on your Levin AE86? Flat out in your engine bay of course!

Sorry for these bad puns, but I just had to make them!

Kouki AE86 is one up 87 in 1988!
Kouki AE86 is one up 87 in 1988!

License plate

This nearly brand new kouki (facelift) AE86 from Osaka is one up with its 87 license plate in February 1988! Now the big mystery is whether it’s a 1987 car or that the 87 license plate is a coincidence. Next to the license plate, it has got a double set of fog lights: über rare OEM GT Apex fog lights in the grill and two Cibié 35 / Airport.

Continue reading

Panda AE86 paint scheme [JDM Trivia #8]

JDM Trivia number eight!

I expected people to jump on the Fujiwara Tofu livery of the Corolla E80 sedan and I was right about that. Actually I wasn’t aiming for the Initial D inspired sticker but rather for the panda AE86 paint scheme applied to it. Why? Well because the two tone panda paint scheme of the AE86 is actually quite subtle and it is easy to make mistakes in it.
JDM Trivia #8: Panda AE86 paint scheme

Panda AE86 paint scheme

To get started, and sorry if you already know this, but there are two types of the hachi roku: the Toyota Corolla Levin and the Toyota Sprinter Trueno. The former has fixed square head lights while the latter has 70s and 80s style popup head lights. Both of them featured in two body styles: 3 door hatch back and 2 door sedan. People also refer both as a coupe as they have been marketed as a coupe in various regions. However according to the Toyota firewall ID plates the real coupe is the 3 door hatchback and the 2 door sedan is called a hardtop. But enough about introducing even more confusion… Continue reading

Friday Video: two hours non-stop 90s drifting

Mr Yumio at Youtube just uploaded his private drift videos from 1990 till 1993. Half of the content takes place at local drift events but the other half is shot on various touges. You really can see how things evolved since this early 90s drifting!
Friday Video: non-stop 90s drifting
It is interesting to observe in this video that most cars at the touge are old “disposable” cars. For instance the Nissan Skyline R30 and Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno AE86 are popular cars. At the circuit a lot of new cars can be seen: Mazda RX7 FC, Nissan Silvia S13, Nissan 180SX, Eunos Roadster and a Toyota Soarer Z30. Still the AE86 is ubiquitous at the circuit as well.

Other extraordinary cars seen at the touge are: Nissan Skyline GT-R PGC10, Isuzu Piazza, Isuzu Gemini PF60 and a hot Nissan Sunny B310. At the circuit the most odd thing is a second generation Honda CRX SiR drifting in reverse!

I bet you can’t wait to spend the remainder of your Friday afternoon watching this video: Continue reading

« Older posts

© 2024 Banpei.net

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑