Feature: The Perfect Levin Coupe - Juiceboxforyou

This car has always been a bit of a mystery; I had seen it a couple of times at various 86 days over the years or at a minimal number of car shows but never had the chance to have a proper look around it. It rarely sees the road these days.

I reached out to the owner Sean, many years ago and asked could I feature it for the website, we chatted back and forth, but we never locked in a day. Fast forward a few years later, and I see this thing driving down the main street in Gorey, a town I was living in for work at the time; I couldn’t believe it. I asked a few people in the area, and it turned out Sean was local to this town. I immediately had to figure something out.

After chatting with Sean, I found out that this Levin has a cool back story. Sean sent me some photos of it drifting in Japan when it used to be a competition car.

It came in from Japan with no headlights, completely stripped out. The Levin was an ex competition drift car with little to no road going creature comforts; it wasn’t ideal. I somehow managed to find a feature on the car not too long ago in a magazine I had purchased. Here are a few photos from an old Autoworks Magazine In 2005. It came to Ireland two years later.

The stickers were long removed when it landed in Ireland and the car was pretty beat up. Sean and his mate Shane who owned it before him, went about cleaning the car up, refitting the interior that was missing, adding headlights and replacing anything that was broken or missing. The lads picked an excellent paint scheme, plain white with black late spec bumpers. Arguably the cleanest look for an AE86.

Sean babies this Levin, and it’s obvious he loves it. He rarely posts about it on social media and very infrequently shows this car off to anyone. Sean keeps low key truly enjoys the 86 life regardless of what other people might think. I love that about the car culture here. Many lads like Sean tend to keep to themselves and have the most excellent cars tucked away in a shed. They are not too pushed on showing them off online and build this stuff for themselves.

People are always baffled in other countries when we show them cars hiding away from the internet in small towns or village nestled in the Irish countryside.

After some back and forth, We eventually locked down a date to shoot Sean’s car; we were going to do the video special on a group of mates who are all local to each other and have some of the best AE86s in Ireland.

Sean was first to arrive, so I grabbed this chance to shoot the Levin as I knew this chance might not present itself again. We used the backdrop of Arklows harbour in the setting sun, which looks like a small fishing village in Japan. Somewhere this car would fit right in.

The car is finished in 040 white, a classic Toyota colour, the bumpers are black, but Sean has dropped the white lines down onto the bumpers for that classic look. The rear windows are tinted, there’s a selection of choice stickers on the back glass, it’s not overdone, the stickers are a tip of the hat to that era of drifting we all enjoy.

There is a very subtle small boot spoiler; I’ve never seen another like it; it’s like a modified TRD or Nobby Booth spoiler but much smaller. It matches with the subtle styling of the car. Sean has retained the chrome wind deflectors and side skirts.

The rear end is late spec Trueno with the two-door Trueno tail lights, arguably the best lights for a two-door AE86 coupe. Upfront Sean has fitted an early spec grill ver the late spec fog lights, a common enough mod that looks great.

These wheels are a perfect match. An immaculate set of SSR MKIIIs in 14×8 -12 is on the rear, whilst 14×7.5 with a zero offset look good up front. In my opinion, these are the perfect wheel choice for this loo.

The car has looked this way for almost nine years, and it never gets old, Sean always has it looking pristine, and whenever we get to see a rare sighting of it in the wild, it never disappoints. That’s when you know you’ve nailed the look of a car when you can enjoy the finished product almost ten years on!

The engine bay is far from a track car these days, but funnily enough, it still has the engine that came in from Japan. Its running s supercharger, but oddly enough, it’s not the kind found on the AW11 or AE92; the engine looks standard to the quick passer-by, but we’ve learned this was a kit from a company called ToolBox.

Sean has the car mapped to just shy of 200HP. I like this supercharger style as the SC12 is quite messy in an 86 engine bay due to the piping.

The engine bay has been flushed and finished in an immaculate white; everything is spotless, you could eat your dinner out of here. There are a few nice bits to note, like the Carbing oil catch can, Cusco strut, and purple dress-up items to match the TRD oil cap and Cam covers.

Inside, the full interior remains. There’s a Nardi classic, some Defi gauges, and two older MK1 bride Brix One seats with the letterbox head. The car has a cage that been painted purple to match the engine bay.

There’s not much more to say; this is the perfect 2 Door AE86 streetcar. It’s mad to think this used to be a worn-out drift car with no headlights, and now it’s a pristine show specification road-going beauty. Luckily the weather was with us that evening, and what better way to enjoy it than staring at old 86s!

Exterior
Early spec shell
Oem Late spec front bumper
Oem Early spec splitter
84 grill
Frp wings
Frp bonnet
Oem Late spec rear bumper
Redline rear lights
(modified rear panel)
Unknown spoiler
Oem skirts
Oem wind deflectors
Oem fog lights

Engine
Tucked engine bay
199.7 BHP Fully Built 4age
Tool Box SAftermarket supercharger
Trd gearset t50
Oversized pistons
HKS cams
Toda adjustable pulleys
Upgraded valves and springs
Omex 600
Full custom loom Trigger wheel
Ford coil pack
Rsr manifold
Sytec fuel reg
Lightweight flywheel
Three puck clutch
Grex oil cooler
Godspeed alloy rad

Interior
Late spec interior
Full dash dodger cage
Bride Brix early spec seats
Nardi wheel with
Snap off boss kit
Oil pressure gauge
Oil temp gauge
Water temp gauge
HKS Boost gauge
Blitz Boost controller
Hydro Handbrake
Battery box

Chassis
Cusco Front strut brace
Cusco Rear strut brace
Chassis brace behind wings
Rear bc coilovers
Front coilovers with Avo inserts
Adjustable top mounts
Early spec 2way TRD diff
TRD 4.7 cwp
Full exhaust Revolver Ncra’s
Aftermarket steering knuckles
Ssr mk3s 14×8.5 rear 14×8 fronts