Category: Carina sightings (Page 1 of 6)

This big mess of 1G-FE wires and hoses just needs a little TLC

Finish this Finnish Lexus-powered Carina! – Carina Sightings

April 28, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

Some projects turn out to be too big to ever pass the finish line, but this Finnish Lexus-powered Carina doesn’t seem to fit that category. However, it’s still an unfinished project that is almost there.

Unfinished Finnish project: Carina TA60 with a 1G-FE engine

The unfinished Finnish Carina project

The ad describes it as follows:
Project carina. 2.0 direct weave from lexus. Immobilizer on, has been tested. A mild project. Not inspected. Good basket.
Normally a basket-case would never be good, but this Carina is an exception to that!

How can you fit a 6-cylinder in a Carina?

Fitting a 1G-FE 6-cylinder engine is possible on the Carina TA60 as the A60 Celica XX also featured the 1G engine family in Japan. Sourcing a cross-member from Japan for it should be possible. However, I’m not sure if the current owner went through all that trouble though.

Second-generation Carina brochures with glass cube Ideka Museum compared

Another Glass-cube Toyota Carina brochure – Carina Sightings

March 24, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

I found another second-generation Toyota Carina Japanese brochure with the mysterious glass-cube building of the Ideka 20th Century Art Museum on its cover!

It turns out the Carina is parked in the Ikeda Museum parkinglot — Ikeda Museum parkinglot

In the previous post, I was happy to have found out that the Ideka 20th Century Art Museum was featured on the front of the brochure. Last time, I couldn’t have solved the mystery without the help of Google Bard which recognized the building.

Would you consider this Bulgarian Carina polarizing?

BJDM Toyota Carina: a Bulgarian interpration of JDM – Carina Sightings

March 5, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

My first reaction when I found this Toyota Carina GL TA60 for sale on a Bulgarian classifieds site was WTF?! But don’t let the looks at the front deceive you: this was done by a genuine enthusiast. Someone who really loved this Carina. Let me go over it completely.

The modifications on this Bulgarian Toyota Carina TA60 can be considered polarizing

The Carina

Let’s begin with the base of this car: it’s a 1982 Toyota Carina. As it features headrests on the rear seats and has a carpeted boot, it has to be the GL trim level. It features the 1.6-litre 2T engine, so we can narrow it down to a TA60. The seller mentions it’s a 5-speed manual, so its gearbox is a T50. In one of the photos are some German documents, so I suspect it originated from Germany many years ago.

How do these Toyota Lasre Engines survive in the desert heat without any cooling?

What are these Toyota LASRE engines doing in the Sahara desert? – Carina Sightings

February 14, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

What is this 1982 Toyota Carina ad supposed to mean? Are the Toyota LASRE engines supposed to fuel the infamous Sirocco winds? Sirocco winds are “a hot wind, often dusty or rainy, blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean to southern Europe.”

*Toyota LASRE engines in the Paris-Dakar rally*

Alternatively, are these engines supposed to give the Carina competing in the second Paris-Dakar rally a small push? Or perhaps, are these Toyota LASRE engines supposed to be giant windmills that work the reverse: wind makes them turn and in effect they suck up hydrocarbons via the exhaust and poop out fuel on the intake side?

We’ll probably never know what went through the minds of the marketing people at Toyota in 1982.

Baby-blue Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 kaido racer – Carina Sightings

February 7, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

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

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.

Maybe these two are both supposed to be glass houses?

Why is this Toyota Carina in front of a big mirror-glass cube? – Carina Sightings

January 30, 2024 / banpei / 0 Comments

I bought my first Japanese Toyota Carina brochure somewhere in 2007, just after I purchased my own Carina TA60. Many brochures followed over the years and I think I have almost all of the third generation complete. Here and there I also picked up some Japanese second-generation Carina brochures. Over 10 years ago I purchased this second-generation Carina brochure:

Second-generation 1977 Toyota Carina brochure

Ever since I bought that brochure, it has intrigued me why this Carina was parked in front of a gigantic mirror-glass cube-shaped building. What is the purpose of that? Am I missing some cultural reference here?