"Wow…nice Subaru, er, uh…nice…What is that thing?" That seemed to be the common reaction when people saw Rochelle Christmas' 1996 Toyota Tercel at the Nopi Nats. Yes, we said Tercel.

The Wings West body kit and Mackin Industries rear wing totally transformed grandma's grocery-getter into one cool compact. The suspension was tweaked using B&G lowering springs and custom Tokico shocks for a Corolla in the front and custom Tokico shocks for a Subaru in the rear. Hugging the ground are the Axis 18-inch wheels wrapped in Toyo Proxes 215/35-18 tires.

Feeding the squirrels under the hood a little extra muscle, a Zex nitrous system delivers a 50-hp shot to the engine, then gets expelled through a Thermal cat-back exhaust system. I guess that's one way to shake the grocer-getter image!