I love to browse stuff for sale on Yahoo Auctions on a weekly basis and every now and then I find interesting stuff, like for instance the TRD Sports Accessories brochure. This week I encountered this baby-blue Toyota Carina GT-R kaido racer that is for sale for a mere 1.6M yen! (10K euros, 11K dollars)

Baby blue Toyota Carina GT-R kaido racer
Baby blue Toyota Carina GT-R kaido racer

Weak spot for Kaido Racers

I have a weak spot for kaido racers (also known as zokusha), especially if they are done well. This one is done very well, looking at the amount of work that went into this. First of all, you will notice the Levin AE86 front bumper has been widened and made its way to the front of this Carina. It’s not clear why they didn’t use an AE92 bumper as that would fit without any issues. Then the lip underneath the bumper makes it look more like a zokusha.

9 inch and 10 inch wide Hello-Special wheels and Rocketbunny S13 ducktail spoiler
9 inch and 10 inch wide Hello-Special wheels and Rocketbunny S13 ducktail spoiler

9-inch and 10-inch wide Hello Special wheels

The fenders have been extended with some huge overfenders. These are much wider than the N-Style overfenders I posted a long time ago on this blog. These fenders fit nicely over the Hello Special wheels. These wheels are 14 inches in diameter, 9 inches (front) and 10 inches (rear) wide and have 185/50R14 tyres stretched over them.

Toyota Carina GT-R kaido racer with Carina TA17 tail lights
Toyota Carina GT-R kaido racer with Carina TA17 tail lights

At the rear, you can see a tail light swap has been performed. The standard units have been swapped out for a set of Carina TA17 tail lights. These have been mounted at a slight angle and make it look very angry! As the Carina TA17 tail lights lack a reverse light, an LED light has been mounted under the bumper to satisfy Shaken. Also, a Rocketbunny S13 spoiler has been added to the boot lid and cut in three pieces to still allow it to open and close.

Racing modifications

An unique one-off head lights cover (racing jacket) has been created
An unique one-off head lights cover (racing jacket) has been created

A unique set of headlight covers have been created for this Carina. These covers have been inspired by the headlight covers that were found on the first-generation Celica race cars. Hence they are also known as “racing jackets”.

The front has been lowered using cut AE86 struts with AE92 shocks and the rear has been lowered with height-adjustable springs and shocks that can be adjusted in 12 steps.

20 valve 4A-GE blacktop engine

20 valve 4A-GE from an AE111
20 valve 4A-GE from an AE111

Under the bonnet, we find a 20-valve 4A-GE blacktop engine from an AE111. The engine itself has been modified heavily with a 0.8mm TRD head gasket and a mix and match of AE86, AE101 and AE111 parts. According to the seller, it has some running issues but when an AE101 ECU is plugged in everything should work fine. When the engine is started in the video below it sounds fine though.

Finally, on the inside, we find a roll cage and two Bride bucket seats. What I really love is that the door cards and rear seats also have been reupholstered with Bride fabric. This makes the interior complete and consistent.

Bride interior: bride seats and door cards have been brided
Bride interior: bride seats and door cards have been brided

Awefully familiar Carina

Some of you may already started shouting that this Carina looks awfully familiar. Yes, I had the same feeling when I looked at the photos. Those Carina TA17 tail lights, the Levin AE86 front bumper, the headlight covers and the Rocketbunny ducktail spoiler. I remebered seeing that before on a yellow Carina in one of the Wasabi Cars videos of a car meeting in Kyushu. Lo and behold, even the thumbnail contains that particular Carina!

The front lip is different, it has modest widedend fenders, fender mounted mirrors and some more legit wheels in the form of Work Equip Excel wheels. I’m 100% convinced it is the same car! I even found some other photos proving it is.

Same Carina and headlight cover in yellow with Pennzoil livery
Same Carina and headlight cover in yellow with Pennzoil livery

Here the yellow Pennzoil Carina has the same headlight covers, AE86 front bumper and the big array of gauges on the dashboard.

Same Carina TA17 tail lights and Rocketbunny ducktail spoiler
Same Carina TA17 tail lights and Rocketbunny ducktail spoiler

Same Carina TA17 tail lights and Rocketbunny ducktail spoiler. So I’m 100% sure the blue Carina is the same car.

Custom drawing of the Pennzoil Carina by akahoshi_works
Custom drawing of the Pennzoil Carina by akahoshi_works

As a bonus, I also found this custom drawing by akahoshi_works. The Minkara page of the original owner can be found here: Ｒyo2iのページ. I’m not sure if he’s also the person selling the car though.

Conclusion

I simply love the way this Carina looks! It looks outrageous from every angle! I personally do prefer the yellow Pennzoil livery over the blue. However, the baby blue makes it stand out in the crowd. The angry tail lights just complete the whole picture! In other words: I would love to own and buy this Carina, but I’m fairly positive it will not pass inspection here in the Netherlands the way it is currently. If it were still like the Pennzoil car, it could perhaps still pass.

If you love it as much as I do, it will be for sale until the 10th of February 2024. You can find it for sale here.