There’s meant to be only a finite amount of power a car can take, and typically a car is built around this consideration, which is why this properly insane first generation 1971 TA22 Toyota Celica slantnose coupe is so fascinating.
This is definitely the most extreme example of one of the most iconic Toyotas ever created that we’ve seen. This creation belongs to an Aussie named Jamie Heritage who built it roughly 10 years ago and running with this configuration for the last 8 years, of which he says 6 of them have been blessed as problem-free - a totally reliable classic monster, nearly unbelievable.
To create such a beast, though, one that’s capable of such brutal performance, Jamie had to put in a lot of work to take most of the original car out. It now runs a 4.0-litre V8 Toyota 1UZ engine out of a Lexus that’s been twin-turbocharged at 29psi to over 850kW.
He must have realised very early on that all that shove was far too much for just two driven wheels, no matter how sticky the rubber. To solve this, he naturally went with an all wheel drive setup from another iconic Japanese motor: the Nissan Skyline GT-R.
The end result is the gear set of an R34 - shifted via a Holinger sequential gearbox and the driveline (diffs and all) of an R33. And with a weight of 1300kg (with driver), the thing absolutely flies off the line and just keeps going.
Mr Heritage most recently took his Frankenstein’s Monster to the 2016 Snowy Moutains 1000 where it ran a 17 seconds to cross the 1000m mark where the speed trap clocked it at 266km/h, but is said to have a top speed of beyond 310km/h. Brutal.
Oh, and it’s totally street legal. Registered with Victoria plates and has been for the past 6 years.
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