Beep - The little green KP61 - Juiceboxforyou

Many people have affection towards the kp series starlet in Ireland. Mostly due to the fact they were one of a rare breed of rear wheel drive hatchbacks from the late 70’s and early 80’s which made them extremely popular in rallying and hot rodding due to their FR layout which along with rust was one of the main reasons these cars disappeared, well that and the evil scrappage scheme. Most examples around Ireland have the usual superlites and mudflaps so it’s always nice to see a properly done version from the motherland.

The car started life as a Japanese Mk3 KP61, it hit our shores in 2004 wearing some red paint and quite the famous bold looking N2 body kit. While the KP starlet was being used for rallies over here, back in Japan they were being raced in the N2 series. Many people who know Toyota’s will know the TRD N2 kit. The kit has crazy arches, which bolt onto the original body.

They were purely functional when they were designed, but to this day they still look great as an aesthetic modification to the KP. The arches seem to change the whole look of the humble hatchback into a crazy little curious monster.

The petrol cap had to be cut into the arches as the N2 starlet had a fuel cell, which was located in the rear. Along with the arches was the front splitter and at the rear was the unmistakable TRD upper spoiler which a real tough look to the otherwise round rear end. To compliment the rear Trd upper spoiler is a mid spoiler, which adds to the aggressive look of the rear. When the car was in Japan, someone had imported and fitted the USDM bumpers which are what the car wears now. In Ireland the first owner replaced the wing mirrors with UK variants.

This starlet rocks parts from all over! The red paint was swapped out for some House of Kolor’s candy green. This colour hits so many different shades around the arches and body, almost impossible to truly catch in person. With this new coat of paint came new headlights, corner lights, taillights and rubbers to freshen up the look of a 27 year old car.

Now why is there shoes inside you may ask? Well that’s a good observation because this car is actually owned and daily driven by a female starlet lover, quite an uncommon sight to the average car enthusiast in Ireland but nothing out of the ordinary to the owners close friends.

The owner has a serious love affair with the KP starlet after owning a few previous. Her previous one was very rough so Instead of restoring it, Donna sold it to her father and bought this one from a friend had imported it and was selling the car as an unfinished build. Once the car was in her hands things started to change on the inside, and we’re not just talking about the shoes….

The interior of the car was given a refresh, the dash, door cards and the head lining were all redone in suede along with the rear seats. Keeping with the dark interior theme some Bride Brix recliners were fitted.

For steering an OMP deep dish was added accompanied by a Safety Devices 7 point roll cage. Donna has added some of her own extra touches as you can see from the images to make the interior that little bit more personal.

Under the bonnet things start to get very interesting. The 4A-GE engine has received a full overhaul and was lifted from an AE92 which is fed fuel from a Walbro system. Some AE111 conrods, Toda 256 and 264 cams, and a light weight chromoly fly wheel were added to the mix. A HKS 4-2-1 manifold runs into a modified ae86 Apexi hybrid evolution exhaust.

The KP received a trusty t50 gearbox and a TRD clutch mated to a custom one-piece prop shaft, which had to be built to accommodate the AE86 rear axle rocking a 4.7 crown wheel and pinion with a TRD diff. I really enjoy that colour theme under the bonnet!

As you can see from this angle the discs don’t even fit inside the wheels. For stopping power Donna has gone for some Kouki s13 discs with fc3s 4 pot Mazda calipers, this thing can do stoppies! Up front some Techno Toy Tuning AE86 coilover’s have been fitted. Out back, the towers were modified to fit Spax coil overs for a MK2 escort with fully and the suspension arms have been fully poly bushed.

Up front is a homemade strut brace while at the back the turrets are braced with an x-bar, which had been welded to the floor! This is one seriously stiff little setup. Finishing the look of is a set of period correct one-piece work equip o1 mk1 v1’s! Say that three times…. These are the original one-piece Work Equip’s look at home under those bold arches.

This mix and match build starlet build from the eighties is amazing. Combining many different parts to create the perfect little well balanced starlet. The most enjoyable part is that everything looks at home here.

Donna affectionately calls the KP car beep and she truly adores it. I admire her dedication for this little KP. Lets be honest many other female drivers would never be seen in such a vehicle.

As these little starlets have become such an incredibly rare sight on our roads, its good to know this one will live on for many years to come.