What would be more iconic than an AE86 Corolla driving up a hairpin corner-adorned mountain road?
Three AE86 Corollas driving up a hairpin corner adorned mountain road and a friend in the spiritual successor to the AE86 sliding up one of those hairpins.
I cracked a joke early on into the evening that if it was 2005 and you were tasked with building an AE86 coupe you probably would have ended up building something similar to one of these three cars. A nearly mint collectors example like Carson’s car, a touge inspired retro-themed build example like Drew’s, or an all-out build like Shawn’s Levin front end swapped S2000 driveline powered DMAX car.
I’m still a big believer that the Altezza was a closer spiritual successor to the original AE86 than the GT86/FRS/BRZ cars are, but I could not help but appreciate the way that Marcus’ BRZ fit in with these three cars. It felt almost surreal watching him slide up the switchback with the corollas in the background.
Later on in the week we visited our friend Tyler’s home shop to help him put the finishing touches on his static Celsior build. It was a good thing we visited because after plenty of attempts at getting out of his garage and then up to his gravel driveway, we ended up using Dylan’s Tacoma and a tow strap and turned the cambered barge into a gravel plow as we dragged it to freedom.
Tyler’s Celsior features:
- 326power coilovers with 45k springs
- Custom top hat
- SerialNine FUCA, RCAS, traction, toe, and lower control arms
- Custom RUCA
- Custom raised subframes
- Custom ss kit for more barrel clearance
- Relocated gas tank, fuel lines and brake lines
- 326power Yabaking Monoblocks (18×10.5 +10 squared)
When we asked Tyler what inspired him to build his car he responded with,
“Style over everything, these cars suck to drive so might as well slam them.”
Please continue to support and enjoy Japanese imports and low car style.
See you soon.
Checkpoint Japan 