I’m not sure where I sit with this one, I’ve heard about it many times over the years and have read the entire thread myself, but I’m kind of on the fence about it. On one hand, it’s great to see someone so thorough in their quest for modification perfection, sparing no expense in a build that is so meticulous it crosses over to obsessive. The parts used are all of the highest quality, and the work is carried out by skilled technicians. But at the same time it’s an exercise in excess, so much so that it turns me off. Firstly, the car gets shipped from Australia to America to be built (I assume at great cost), even though we have a thriving and capable automotive industry right here. Then, pretty much every part of the car is replaced with brand new factory-bought items, including the wiring loom, plastic trims, hoses, interior parts, transmission, diff, you name it. Anyway, I guess it takes all kinds of us to make up the car scene that we love so much, so the best way I could put it is that I’d love to take a look over the car but I don’t think I could sit down with the owner and have a ‘car chat’ over a beer. Give me a low-budget, bruised-knuckles, blood sweat and tears garage-build any day. Still, it’s a great build thread, which I guess is all that matters.
Tag: toyota
KP60 Starlet
I think I’ve just stumbled across what is potentially the best idea ever in regards to car forums and build threads. Oldschool.co.nz is a New Zealand-based oldschool car forum, and while it’s full of awesome cars and a thriving motorised bicycle racing series, I’d have to say the defining feature for me is that their build threads are strictly author-only content, with a duplicate thread located in a different section for any discussion with other members. That means no more sifting through 10s or 100s of pages of chatter when all you want to see is pics and info about the build, genius!
The build in question is a KP60 Toyota Starlet, evolving over time in the garage with plenty of home made fabrication that has me both a little bit jealous and all warm and fuzzy at the same time. Thanks to Zac for submitting.
Retromod Toyota Tacoma
Well here’s a first, I cant’ say I’ve ever featured an expedition truck before, nor have I read a build with the words “can be loaded safely in a 20-foot container with one or two NATO crates of supplies behind it”. The owner of this rig had gotten the most out of his trusty FJ Cruiser, so he decided to create a new expedition vehicle with some retro flavour. Instead of scouring the classifieds for a well-worn 70’s-80’s truck and having to go through the whole restoration process before even beginning to modify it for his needs (including a shortened bed), he began this build with a brand new 2012 Toyota Tacoma and proceeded to turn back the clock aesthetically to create what he cleverly calls a “retromod”.
Click here for more off-road builds.
Toyota Starlet / Volvo 240
Time for another one of our favourite types of builds, where the mad scientists of the car world decide to take two unsuspecting cars and morph them into a single automotive frankenstein. I’m talking, of course, about chassis swaps. This time it’s a Toyota Starlet having it’s insides removed, while a Volvo 240 donates it’s underpinnings and drivetrain, giving us a RWD Swedish powered Starlet.
Thanks to Jose for submitting.
1:10 Hilux RC build
This hand-made Hilux is the third scaled-down build I’ve featured here, but this one differs slightly from the others. While it’s still a 1:10 RC car, this one doesn’t limit itself to plastic materials and resin, the builder has gone to the extreme effort of making his own metal panels from hand-made wooden bucks. There’s so much detail in this awesome little rock crawler, I don’t know where to begin.
SR20 RWD Toyota Platz
I’ll admit, when I first saw an online image of this car in a Drift Tengoku magazine spread, I automatically assumed it was one of those weird front wheel drive ass-dragging drifters from Japan. But that was far from the case, you see this is little Toyota Platz (Echo/Yaris sedan) is actually powered by a black-top SR20DET, driving the rear wheels through an S13 diff/subframe.
Of course my friend Mike (resident Echo and general obscure small car guru) would be the guy to come up with a link to the build process, thanks Mike!
Hayabusa powered MRS
Apologies for the lack of updates this week. Here’s a quick one courtesy of Todd from NZV8 Magazine, a fiberglass-paneled ZZW30 MRS with a turbo’d Hayabusa motor replacing the standard Toyota donk.
For a previous ‘busa powered feature, click here.
’69 FJ40 Rock Crawler
Keeping things off paved roads just like the last post, we’ll now turning our attention to an FJ40 Landcruiser build. Born out of necessity after his last FJ was written-off in an accident, Jon took the opportunity to build the dedicated rock-crawler that he’d always wanted, complete with LS1 power. This is a great build for those of you who like a lot of detail and enjoy a good read.
I’ve featured a modern FJ cruiser build from the same forum, back when Build Threads first started, you can read about that one here.
Thanks to Dickson for submitting.
AE86 GT-APEX Trueno
Okay, the Speedhunters posts are done and dusted for another year, hopefully I’ve picked up some new readers with the increased exposure so let’s get back to business and feature some builds. Romas emailed me his Trueno build only a couple of days ago, hailing all the way from Lithuania. The AE86 was already modified when it was shipped over from Japan, but it was quickly torn down and rebuilt to his own standards, which meant fitting a 4AGTE and some S13 suspension bits, including the IRS rear end.
Time-lapse DIY repaint
Here’s a cool video of a bunch of friends respraying an MA70 Supra in a very sinister shade of flat black. Click it!
