Chasing Goodlines With An AE86
Shane is a reserved character. Like I said in the recent video about this car, he keeps to himself. On social media, the odd post here or there about his car pops up, and he’s never actively posting the cool stuff he’s posting in his shed at home.
When I saw his Levin pop up online, it instantly caught my attention. Inspired by the Young Version / Run free collaboration car that famously graced the pages of Hyper Rev magazine and was done pretty much to perfection, I had to reach out and chat.
I knew we would have a lot of similar interests in 86’s, juding by the look he had achieved with this car. This Levin is everything I love in a “Twin Cam” far from the usual Irish styling. Chatting with Shane, I learned pretty quickly that we grew up around the same stuff, first falling in love with the 86 as kids seeing the UK spec example driving around or at rallies.
Shane’s older brother Derek has a lot to answer for, his interest in these cars rubbed off on Shane as a kid, and now both brothers enjoy the hobby together. Derek has had some of the coolest 86s in Ireland, and that influence is what led Shane to put together this red Levin,
This project was supposed to be a quick turnaround. When the brothers picked it up, the car was only ever intended as a track weapon, nothing more. The car came in from Japan with the 20v engine, but it was worse for wear, the arches rusted out, and the bumpers were tatty.
The brothers stripped it back and decided they wanted to achieve a Millenium drift style look with the car, and Shane felt the Young Version car was exactly the look he had listed for many years.
They nailed the look, body shop Goodline front bumper, no side skirts, Flared arches which perfectly meet the wheels, and choice stickers finished in holographic chrome add a little personal touch. White line tail lights and a TRD wing at the back end mated to an FRP rear hatch with a standard back bumper. It’s so simple yet so timeless.
Inside a Bride seat, hydro handbrake, Nardi wheel and a cage, the brothers resprayed the inside silver so it looks incredibly fresh and straightforward. The bare essentials are all that’s needed. This Corolla is a well-focused machine built with drifting in mind.
Under the hood, a 20 Valve black top 4A-GE sits comfortably. The firewall is hacked to fit the original FWD 20V distributor, a common sight in Japan with this mod. Shane has finished the cam cover in pearlescent paint, it has a Jasma stamped four branch manifold, and Shane recently fitted an oil cooler.
This Corolla is such a simple yet timeless formula for an AE86 and probably the look im most fond of on these cars. The original version of this Levin has always been a massive inspiration and certainly dictated my taste on how to style these cars. This look is more or less the template I’ll be using when finishing my Trueno.
The Millenium Kanagawa style, this style of running no side skirts, Goodline front bumper and solid colours with chunky wheels came from that region where the guys from Team RunFree and Body shop Goodline pioneered this look. It quickly spread across the drifters of Japan at the turn of to Millenium and still looks just as good today. I’ll let the rest of these photos speak for themselves,
Most nights usually end with an older character calling over for a chat about old Toyotas; the love Irish people have for this generation of Toyotas is incredible.
Hope you enjoyed the photos
– Neil
1 Comment