This photo set is from the second trip up to MR “X”. I was going to pile these photos in with the third trip but each time we head up there I always find myself snapping everything in sight. There is something new with every journey, something to leave you either confused or in awe. The little 5 GT Turbo has seen many AE86’s being stripped at this point, I wonder if it ever thinks it’s going to be next.
There was a time in Ireland where the AE111 Levin was one of the most desirable machines to own amongst the younger car enthusiast. To be somewhat precise, that was about fifteen years ago, a time when fresh new imports flooded the country, people had lots of disposable income and prices were sky high, especially for the Levin, about eight to ten grand to be exact.
We pull apart the AE86’s new blacktop 20 valve 4A-GE heart and see if this engine swap was actually worth the effort…
We take the AE86 out onto public roads to grab some food in its current condition, later that weekend we take the Trueno to Japfest, Irelands biggest annual Japanese car show and we explode fifth gear along the way. A little treat for Christmas Day.
After a night of madness on the docks, we woke to a familiar Irish sight, a soggy grey morning. Regardless of the weather, there was a shop that had been on the hit list for a very long time and I was incredibly eager to check it out before our trip came to an end. Tec Arts has been around for a long time and is a very familiar name in the 86 world. They primarily deal with AE86’s these days but are known to have built some very cool cars over the years.
I love cars that literally appear out of nowhere. This KE70 appeared in some photos online one day and literally blew us away. At First I thought it was just another really well put together Corolla from the Internet, little did I know this was actually on Irish shores. I was pretty eager to take a closer look.
Almost hidden in the corner of the Toyota gathering a few months back was this AE86. The owner was a little taken back by my interest in it. I tend to obsess over cars with a little character; cars we wish could only speak and share their tales, with faded team stickers, dents holes and scuffs.
This little unassuming E90 corolla started its life as a rather mundane commute machine. Corollas from the eighties and the 90s were like Lego, literally so much stuff plugs and crosses over its fascinating.
I honestly feel bad for the AE111 Levin, it had a lot to live up to following the AE86 legacy along with its two older bothers the 101 and the 92. None of them were rear wheel drive but all possessed fresher better engineered hearts than the original Eighty Six.
David picked up this car from a friend a little over a year ago. Prior to that he has never owned an AE86, but it was high on the list of cars he had to own, and simply put, hard work made that become a reality. It’s taken a very short period of time for David to shape this car to suit his personality, however I can tell you that this car is far from finished, in fact as I write this I know he is planning a change again in the near future.
To polish a turd or “The act of trying to make something hopelessly weak and unattractive appear strong and appealing. An impossible process that usually results in a larger, uglier turd’. From the outside looking in, sometimes our way of spending money and spending time may look like a lost cause to the outside world.
Ah, where to begin…. if you didn’t know this by know, Ireland has a very very impressive AE86 following, when the flood gates from Japan opened back around 00, we pretty much imported any type of AE86 we could get our hands on and this continued for about eight years, right up until the country’s economy shat itself. Any proper day like the one that is somewhat annually held at Mondello brings some of the most awesome pieces of Japanese steel from around the country and this was as good as it gets.
This car was something of a rumour, not a whole lot spoken about it amongst the forums or between people, the owner Jason wanted to unveil the car at the right time when he felt it was ready. The car is just another one of these reasons why Ireland can be awesome, sure it rains quite a lot and everyone is miserable, but aside from all this Jason went and built one of the coolest two door KE70’s I’ve ever come across on both the internet and in the real world. I took a trip with a friend to see this car, we drove for miles along tiny little back roads and I wasn’t really expecting anything, which was a good thing. In Ireland you never really know what to expect when someone tells you about a car, as we rolled up to Jason’s house which is pretty much on the side of a mountain, my jaw dropped, I was truly speechless, I hope you can share the same feeling by checking out this feature on one of the coolest well executed Corolla builds this country has ever seen.
Happy AE86 day! What better way to celebrate this day than with a car like this. The Levin you are looking at is probably one of the most impressive builds I have ever witnessed with an AE86. These days people seem to have the mentality of adding a set of wheels to a car and stance and a couple of stickers and suddenly their car is something special or different. What I love about this car is the fact that pretty much every inch of the car has been changed, replaced or refurbished. This car wasn’t built to be put on a stand at a car show or to be king of the internet. Many people didn’t even know this 2 door even existed, for the people that did it was like an urban myth hearing what was being done and how much was being spent. The biggest thing I love about this Levin is how it was built to be driven and personally enjoyed, the fact Jerry wasn’t bothered if it was exposed to the world or not is pretty awesome.
