A Corolla With A Secret

Each year you attend the Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, you’re bound to see plenty of Toyota Corollas. More specifically you’ll see a lot of examples from the early ’70s, as well as plenty of Corollas from the 1980s – including a large number of AE86s. A model that’s a little less common to see is the E30 chassis, which was sold in the US during the latter half of the 1970s.

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That rarity is part of the reason why I was drawn to Eduardo Hernandez’s 1977 TE31 Corolla – a car coated in a distinctively ’70s shade of yellow paint. And as I got closer to the old Toyota, the more I began to like it.

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Unlike some of the modified cars at JCCS, the external changes to Eduardo’s Corolla are very subtle. The body is clean and original, with one of the only changes being a pair of Japanese-style fender mirrors up front.

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Also adding to the Corolla’s style is an aggressively-low ride height and a set of 14-inch Hoshino wheels with Yokohama tires. Even with a stock motor, this would make for a nice old school Japanese cruiser.

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But then you look under the hood and see that the factory OHV engine is long gone. In its place sits a 240hp Honda F20C engine from an S2000 – a motor that’s becoming an increasingly popular swap choice for older Japanese rear-wheel drive cars.

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What’s not to like about a former economy car with some subtle exterior work and a modern sports car heart under the hood? While E30 chassis Corollas might not be as popular as the cars that became before and after them, I think builds like Eduardo’s might inspire people to take another look at these Toyotas from the late ’70s.

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With a largely original exterior and interior, the addition of the VTEC motor brings Eduardo’s Corolla well into the ‘sleeper’ category. It wasn’t one of the wildest builds at JCCS, but definitely one of my favorites from the this year’s show.

Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia_media
mike@speedhunters.com

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1

Before I click into the article , I was like , no ... no no no ... please don't !
But after the article load up , I'm like ... oh yes ! Now that is epic !
Screaming Corolla !

2

RDS Out of interest, what were you worried it was going to be?

3

Love the big contrast between the disturbingly seventies mustard colour + and high tech screaming F20C.

4
Chris 'Haffy' Hafner

LS!!!!!!

5

I was originally like eww, why no Sr swap, but then I thought, dam not only is this different as hell, but who wouldnt want a 180kw+ n/a screamer in such a little vintage commuter. Pretty rad.

6

Chris 'Haffy' Hafner but LS engines are awesome...

7
Original_Spartan

Why not a beams engine though to stick to the Toyota family...

8

My first new car was a '78 Corolla Deluxe 2 door.  It was the bright canary yellow, instead of the darker mustard color.  Over the years, I've owned 5-6 other RWD Corollas, including a '82 Corolla SR-5 Coupe (personal fav).  What I liked was that they got me efficiently from A to B, and did it in a fun way.  I would own another one in a heartbeat, but they are long ago rusted away here in Kentucky.

9

Does anyone else just really not like tyre/tire shine?  I do not like tire shine.  I mean go ahead, but shiny tires look bad weird to me.

10

Slappy_Pistons It's definitely difficult to get the right amount of that stuff, I don't like the greasy look but at the same time, dirty/faded tyres look worse!

11

He must've asked: "Will my Honda fit in this?"

12

Taryn Croucher Slappy_Pistons i enjoy the shiny look. Makes it seem like a brand new toy car or something of the sort. I might just be weird but when they look this shiny, I think it gives the car an entirely new look.

13

Taryn Croucher Slappy_Pistons I see what you mean - I quite like the faded grey tyres, though (*゚ー゚)ゞ

14

CharlesChris15 Taryn Croucher Slappy_Pistons I do like shiny rubber on Catwoman.  If not tires, at least she looks good (*˘︶˘*).。.:*♡

15

Blake Jones Chris 'Haffy' Hafner in their own rite yes. not in this car. 1UZ if you have to go V8. LS's are getting blaaahhh

16

Is he Filipino? This particular Corolla body is quite popular here in the Philippines.

17

All corolla are quite popular in the Philippines. ......

18

That's nice! Diggin these kind of post!

19

Original_Spartan Probably more difficult to source in SoCal, plus the F20 is a better engine from my experience.

20

Slappy_Pistons Taryn Croucher I tend to wipe down tyre shine a few minutes after application, gives it a matt look. Not a fan of the wet look either but each to their own :)

21

rad! Loving your JCCS coverage Mike!

22
Original_Spartan

Paddy McGrath Original_Spartan I understand what you mean..definitely the F20 is better in comparison with the beams but I say that in terms of that you start with one of the best 4 cylinder Toyota N/A engine....And again you stay in Toyota family....You can make that extra 30hp with ITB,s from a 20v engine plus ECU ...

23

@SW1 Thanks a lot!

24

kphillips9936 Will keep them coming!

25

Slappy_Pistons Yeah hard to find a balance between too much and brown tires.

26

Peter_Kelly Exactly haha.

27

Complete with ugly American bumpers!

28

Original_Spartan Paddy McGrath because v-tak, yo! You really can't beat the f20 in terms of NA 4 bangers.

29

mazdaspeeder86 All Corolla's are popular everywhere. It's one of the worlds biggest selling cars!

30

Slappy_Pistons Gotta have tyre shine. Not wet and slippery looking, either let it soak in at home before going to the show(don't apply it there), or wipe it down a few minutes after applying to get a satin look. But tyres must be black.....I can't stand when they look grey/brown, especially against black wheels as it just look messy and unkept.

31

Id hit it

32

turboboxer6spd Blake Jones Chris 'Haffy' Hafner Right? An LS Swap is THE FASTEST way to disinterest me in anybody's car build. It's just add's a sense of generic laziness and vanilla blah to what often times would be a very interesting and unique display of craftsmanship and rarity. 

LS Motor Swaps in Japanese cars are like 98 Honda Civic's at car shows. I cant walk past them fast enough.

33

Mustard-TEC has definitely kicked in.
Great ride and interesting swap. The rear quarter panel profile of this car really does it for me. Wish we saw more of it today, the tease with the IDx gave me some false hope.

34
ChristopherGibson

Them wheels tho :-o

35

no bolt on fenders, no air suspension, no big wing, epic on so many levels

36

Paddy McGrath Slappy_Pistons Taryn Croucher Y'know what I'm gonna give it a go when I get my car back.  A nice satin/matt finish on some clean black tyres would be excellent, especially as I've got some anthracite wheels to go on which I've now realised are about the same colour as the tyres at the moment.  Oops.  Y'all turned me around on this.

37

ChristopherGibson Hoshino Impuls look good on anything old and Japanese

38

Great pictures and coverage Mike! I saw this car in person and I am happy to see it on Speedhunters. The interior was perfectly clean!

39

Super cool car. Super cool wheels. Not super cool Toyota engine though. Would have liked to see one.

40

Peter_Kelly 

Well , a lazy-sounding engine , like LS engine .

41

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