In 2000, the seventh-gen Toyota Celica hit the road, showcasing a bold design for the time. For 14-year-old Alessio Arena in Italy, it sparked an enduring passion for cars, particularly this model.
Upon turning 18, Alessio bought his first Celica. He started with the base 1ZZ-FE VVT-i (143hp) version but later upgraded to the 2ZZ-GE VVTL-i T Sport (192hp), which he still treasures today. Despite his love for the Celica, Alessio always felt a tiny bit letdown by its front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. He imagined how good it could be if configured another way.
Fast-forward to 2015, when a friend offered Alessio a bare seventh-gen Celica body shell. It was begging to be transformed into something special, and when a complete Ferrari 360 Modena drivetrain came up for sale online, Alessio knew what he had to do.
While ambitious, this wasn’t a high-budget, resource-rich endeavour; Alessio and his father completed all the work in the family’s modest home garage under the name Arena Prototipi da Corsa.
To create a Ferrari-mid-engined, rear-wheel drive Toyota Celica, the body was reduced to an outer shell and rebuilt with a custom chrome-molybdenum tube frame. The front end was redesigned, with a custom aluminium frame supporting the bumper, headlights, radiator, and air intake.
Crowning this new structure is an array of carbon fibre components. While the hood, tailgate, spoiler, and seats were sourced from the aftermarket, many carbon parts were meticulously handcrafted by Alessio and his dad.
The new suspension is built around a custom pushrod system featuring Öhlins TTX shock absorbers and adjustable blade-style anti-roll bars. All gold pieces that can be seen were made using a small lathe and then finished by hand.
The centrepiece of the Celica is undoubtedly the 400hp Ferrari V8, an engine far removed from its original design intentions. The 3.6L motor and its corresponding manual gearbox – still operated by the original Ferrari gated shifter – are suspended in the tube chassis with custom-made mounts and brackets. Streamlining the installation, the water pump and power steering were converted to electric, and an aluminium fuel tank was strategically placed behind the front axle for optimal weight distribution. A MaxxECU engine management system wired in with a custom loom gives the firing orders.
The Celica rides on Italian-made 18-inch NTM wheels wrapped in Hankook full slicks. Behind the wheels, Ferrari 360 hubs hold Ferrari brakes, managed by a fully custom pedal box and brake biasing system.
With a full tank of fuel and Alessio on board, the Ferrari-powered Toyota weighs 1,100kg (2,425lb). That’s a good effort, considering all glass windows except for the polycarbonate windscreen have been retained.
After three thousand hours of relentless work, Alessio unveiled a tyre-melting, rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive Celica that’s about as far removed from the original example that ignited his interest in the model.
This is not just another cross-manufacturer repower thrown together with whatever off-the-shelf parts. It’s an entirely new vehicle, with nearly every component reimagined. Alessio’s wild Celica is a testament to what can be achieved in a home garage, fueled by passion and a helping hand from family.
Alec Pender
Instagram: noplansco
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This is one of the coolest builds I've seen in a long time. The fact he did so much of the work himself is very rare and very impressive. Also very special to get to do that with his father. The onboard footage looks like the car was built with good suspension geometry. He is able to correct slides with ease which is a testament not only to good driving / reaction times but the way the car was designed at a base level.
I'd be really curious what kind of lap times he is getting at the tracks he drives. It didn't look like he was pushing as hard as he could which makes me wonder if that was a shakedown / testing session. Really nice car. Mechanically beautiful in the engine bay. I really like this a lot Alec.
Great feature.
Thanks Brent!
Like the GT4586, now we have another Ferrari-swapped Toyota; this Celica
I wonder what we should call it C360? Celica Modena?
Just call it what it is. A race car. It's not art. It's not some cute little catch phrase drift mobile that needs a marketing name. It's hot rodding. lol.
And the GT4586 isn't a purpose-built car? You must be fun at parties
You are comparing a purpose built time attack car which seeks to get a quantifiable lap time to something that is judged off aesthetics and figure skating. Please sit down in the back of the class and take notes. You are not part of the conversation yet.
Drifting is figure skating. No purpose to it. lmao.
Says the guy who isn't a pro driver lol
I’ve been paid to race which would actually make me professional. That’s the definition of the word. LOL. You guys really have to reach with me but won’t race even if I came to you.
I’ve seen your comments. You’re a low level amateur at best so please…if you want to start about my driving pull up and bring cash as we’ve discussed. You can find all about how good I am at this craft.
Or we can just skip to the part where you close your mouth and don’t do a thing. That actually sounds good. Let’s skip to that part.
I find it depressing that you, a professional driver, can't respect other professional drivers just because their objective, drifting, is different than yours.
One of the big drops I was given about 6 months ago was that Larry extorted Haggerty for his current position using false claims of racism to pressure owners. It's very interesting given he is now employed be Haggerty while simultaneously making posts about how they treated him with racism. Why would you ever go work for people who you think are racists? You wouldn't. Unless you were extorting them. This industry is very dirty and I am leaving it for a reason.
A professional drivers goal is one thing: GET PAID.
Ken Gushi is the greatest example of this. He had a handle on AOL chat which was published in a magazine OknshrosanO I still remember his handle. I spoke to him on messenger at the time of his arrest in his early 20s for drifting through a public intersection.
He told me something ill never forget "I wish I could go road racing because of the skill involved but I've been pigeon holed into drifting for the money." I swear on my life if I am lying about this quote God can strike me down right now from a heart attack or a car crash. Ken Gushi said that to me in AOL messenger circa 2004 or 2005.
Even top level pros know it's a giant scam for money to get paid. I have a lot of industry inside baseball and I can start dropping serious s*** if I need to. I have all kinds of information from top stunt drivers about how Sam Hubinette can't even change his own oil or do any mechanical work because he "doesn't have any experience."
LOL. This is why I hide my identity. It's called being smart. A lot of people here tried to play me for very obvious reasons and I side stepped every time and simply located addresses.
Why do you find that depressing? There’s definitely a hierarchy to driving. Formula 1 is harder to drive physically than spec Miata right?
So if I was super into the physical challenge I wouldn’t really respect a guy who tells me spec Miata is more demanding than F1. This is simply not true.
Drifting is not as hard at all compared to open wheel or karting. So I don’t respect it. You do because you aren’t experienced and educated and likely don’t have enough seat time to form these opinions.
I’ve raced for 20 years and coached professionally with world champion drifters. I’ve seen them up close and could do things they couldn’t. Based on that is why I don’t respect it as a professional sport. As a hobby and amateur event it’s great. Professional drifting is super lame and completely blown out of proportion in terms of the skill required compared to other motorsport like wheel to wheel karting. Spec Miata. Formula 4,3,2,1 etc.
Hopefully that clarifies. Dave please don’t delete this comment. I am simply trying to explain my POV to another enthusiast. Thanks!
For the record if you dropped me into a national level karting race like the SKUSA Super Nationals I wouldn't even qualify to be in the race. They only take the top 50 out of 250 and the spread of those 50 drivers tends to be 0.100 of a second.
I had a coach I worked with who had ZERO drifting experience. One of the world champions I mentioned above lent him a car for Formula D and the coach with ZERO experience made it to the finals. Iirc he didn't even practice before the event.
Pretty laughable!
It's hilarious how no one has the experience or cognitive horsepower to give me any kind of real replies to these statements. All you guys can do at best is try and insult me or be like little children. The second you are called out to produce anything of substance you are exposed as cowards. It's hilarious to me. Just want to leave this for the record. All of you guys who have tried to badger me are nothing but little internet b****es.
Who is Alessio's dad, Horacio Pagani?
HI Nicholas,
My dad is a retired carpenter. he helped me with jobs that we couldn't do alone and also simply spent time together in the garage. which is the most beautiful and important thing.