Restored, wrecked and rebuilt: Toyota Tercel Wagon rally racer

Is it a Subaru? An Evo? Nope.

The blur flying through the dirt is the unorthodox chassis of a 1985 Toyota Tercel Wagon.

Meet Steven and Lauren Olona, the husband-and-wife duo who emerged second overall and first in class at this year’s Rally Colorado driving their Tercel. Why did this second- and first-place finish mean so much? Let's delve into …

Read the rest of the story

Any Tercel content is good content

Steven and Lauren are truly amazing people to talk to and I look forward to seeing more of their Tercel in the future. 

Now THIS is the content I'm here for.

I wouldn't be (too) mad if this story jacks up the prices of Tercels. 

I've had tow friends who owned these and they are rugged little cars.

Cool story.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Now THIS is the content I'm here for.

Yup. Nice job, Paris. :) 

Thanks for the great article! Great people they are!

Love this description as part of Brakes: "Harbor Freight jack handle and custom bracketry"

I'd love to hear how they like the Beams 3S-GE engine and 6spd in a racing platform.

hobiercr said:

I'd love to hear how they like the Beams 3S-GE engine and 6spd in a racing platform.

Steven here. In short, it's awesome. Literally change the oil every 3ish events with synthetic penzoil and an oem filter and it just keeps ripping. It probably drank several gallons of water at 100 acre wood rally and didn't skip a beat (speed density helps). The transmission is also great, my main complaint with it is the lack of a reverse lockout so it's easy to go into the reverse gate when trying to grab second gear, not a huge deal as you get used to it.

Theyre pretty expensive these days so not sure I'd buy another if this one blows up. Kinda eying a 2gr.

Those cars are cool, I would drive one but they are pretty much excinct here.