My only recollection of the Toyota Tercel is as the passenger in a 4x4 winding through snow-covered Welsh mountains. It was a two-tone brown and beige with a brown interior and coped surprisingly well with the slippery conditions. I knew at that moment I would never want to spend time in the company of another Tercel. And I was true to my word until a recent trip to Sarasota, Florida. We'd gone in search of rare GTIs for our sister magazine Performance VW.

Florida was a natural choice because it's hot and home to some very interesting cars. However, a few devoted individuals made the 2500-mile round trip from Washington, DC. Among them was Golf owner, Ali Farzad, and his girlfriend Rochelle Christmas.

Ali works for electrical tuner Autothority, near DC and was keen to have his car photographed. We wrongly assumed Rochelle was along for the ride. Until we saw her blue Toyota, that is.

We knew it was a Toyota by the 'Stetson hat' badge on the boot but we have to admit we didn't have the first clue about what model it was. We haven't seen a Tercel in the UK for several years and the last ones didn't resemble this little coupe.

The car was prepared at Autothority's workshop and we believe Ali had more than a hand in it. In fact, the firm now sells all the parts through it's retail showroom.

The most startling change is to the exterior, which has been treated to a coat of VW's Jazz blue, and very arresting it is, too. Equally prominent is the Wings West body kit with seems restrained compared to many of the company's products. It's joined by a Freedom Design rear wing that's manufactured round the corner from Autothority, as well as custom mesh grilles on the front end. Other detailing includes a bee-sting aerial, clear indicators and an exhaust heat shield. The gold Axis rims certainly hint at Impreza influences and the 18" diameter would complement any Subaru product. Despite their size, Rochelle wasn't afraid to ram them into the arches with a set of aptly named Ground Control springs over Tokico dampers. Sourcing the shocks wasn't straightforward, however, as the Tercel isn't widely recognized as a performance car. Therefore, it was supplied with '93 Corolla front units and '89 Subaru Legacy rear dampers. Despite this mixing and matching, the car sits perfectly and seems to ride well.

Even the interior is awash with colour, thanks to energetic use of blue and white vinyl on the Jamex race seats and matching rear bench. The door cards and dash have been colour-coded with white and Jazz blue highlights and even the boot is blue. Other blue flashes of brilliance can be found on the Grant steering wheel as well as the auto shift knob and handbrake lever from Max Speed. The same company also supplied drilled pedals for good measure.


The radio head unit is standard but disguises the full story. It feeds a four-channel amplifier that in turn drives JL Audio speakers front and rear. It's main task is to fire the boot-mounted 10W3 sub-woofer.

It shares boot space with the Zex Innovation nitrous oxide bottle, which forms the main component of the engine tuning. Other tweaks comprise an upgraded ECU from Jet Performance and an Autothority intake, while the throttle body has been bored 2mm to improve airflow. The exhaust system utilizes a rear silencer from Thermal, while the 2.25" piping back to the catalyst was custom made.

Not only does the 1500cc 16v motor boast more power, but its appearance has been improved thanks to some judicious power-coating of the cam cover. What's more, there are blue braded hoses from Vitek and several parts have been painted the body colour.

The effect of all this is an engine that looks good enough to win shows and goes a hell of a lot better that its 1500cc suggests. However, Ali still doesn't feel it's enough and Autothority is developing a turbo kit, employing a K03 blower and GReddy electronics. The transmission will then be upgraded to cope with the increased torque. After that, you'd hope Ali has a very happy Christmas!


IDENTIFICATION CARD - TOYOTA TERCEL

ENGINE 1500 DOHC four cylinder with Jet Performance ECU, K&N filter, Autothority intake, border throttle body, Weapon-R fuel pressure regulator, Thermal exhaust silencer with 2.25" piping from the cat, Zex Innovation nitrous kit

CHASSIS 7.5x18" Axis Se7en wheels with 215/35/18 Toyo Proxes FZ4 tyres. Tokico HP dampers with 300lb front, 200lb rear Ground Control springs. Freedom Design front strut brace, custom rear. Standard front discs with Repco/Axxis brake pads, factory rear drums

EXTERIOR Wings West body kit, Freedom Design rear wing, clear indicators and rear lights, Fuba roof aerial, custom mesh grille, Pilot foglights, exhaust heat shield. Painted VW Jazz Blue, including colour coded mirrors, trim, handles, calipers and rear drums

INTERIOR Jamex race seats on custom brackets, covered in blue and white vinyl, rear seat and boot trimmed to match. White door cards and dash with Jazz blue highlights. Max Speed silver/blue gear knob and handbrake, alloy pedals, Grant stering wheel and Momo seatbelt pads ICE Factory head unit, DEI four-channel amp, 5.25" JL Audio speakers front and rear, 10W3 sub in custom enclosure

CONTACT Everybody at Autothority Performance Engineering (703-323-0919), Toyo, Axis Wheels, Zex Innovations, Weapon-R, JL Audio, Fair City Autobody and Paint, Tokico, Wings West, Fila and all who helped