As I said earlier today (I’m in a different timezone): if I encounter more nice cars I’ll definitely post them. So how about a well used Toyota Corolla AE86 GT-S in the Milpitas Wallmart parkinglot?
While I was taking this photo the owner returned (hence this photo turned out not entirely sharp) and I had a short chat with him. He told me he is on the verge of buying a Scion FR-S as he is tired of continuously repairing an old and tired car. He offered me the car for sale but I friendly declined the offer. It will simply not fit in my suitcase and I guess my wife will kill me if I returned home and explained I just paid a fortune to ship a car to Europe. ;)
From every angle you can see that the sunny weather in California isn’t doing any good to the car:
The top coat is peeling off and the dash was cracked (seen worse though). Interior was almost non existent: driver seat was beaten and everything behind it was missing. Also a rear spoiler had been fitted once but now has been removed.
Other mods are obviously the JDM AE86 redline tail lights from the Sprinter Trueno and the 7J 14 inch Celica Supra P-type rims.
Coincidentally I spotted another AE86 today but I’ll save that one for later.
I’m pretty sure the rims are the lesser 15×6 type. Side wall looks too small for 14″ and there isn’t much dish (15×6 version was +20, 14×7 was +8)
They sure are the P-type 14×7 ones.
There isn’t much dish because:
1. 7J isn’t really that wide.
2. They shape of the wheel is kind of concave-ish.
3. As the offset is +8, the wheel’s center part where it’s mounted to a car’s wheel hub might be thicker than you think because it cannot be seen from the outside. (I hope you understood, I’m not a native English speaker)
And about the sidewall, the AE86 is considerably smaller car than the MA61. So, of course the owner is using lower profile and narrower tires on his car. Oh, and AE86 owners usually want small diameter and wide wheels on their cars, so that’s why the 14×7 wheel is so popular among tuners and drifters. I am pretty certain that’s the case here too.
I have the “lesser” 15×6 type on my Carina and used to have 14×7 on my AE86 back in a day. The 15 inch rims are none concave, so the rims on this AE86 are definitely the 14×7 type.
Also there is a rare “lesser” 14×5 type that is similar to the 15 inch rims without concave:
http://www.banpei.net/2013/05/23/jaf2013-the-aeu86-spot-and-more-ae86s
Research proved to me that these 14 inch wheels are originating as an option on the EU/JDM Celica GT and GT-S (AA63).