The Corolla Levin/Sprinter Treno, which represents the 1970s
The first generation Toyota Corolla, born in 1966, was a car created as a reed for the masses; it evolved into the second generation in 1970, but the basic idea was a normal evolution as a popular car that inherited the concept of the first generation. The car that lacked interest was dramatically changed with the introduction of the coupe-bodied TE27 “Corolla Levin/Sprinter Treno” in 1972. The following is an introduction to the owner of this Sprinter Treno and his car’s specifications.
The car is equipped with a Tenroku engine.
The Toyota TE27 “Corolla Levin/Sprinter Treno,” later regarded as the roots of Japanese Tenroku sports cars, was characterized by its compact body and powerful power unit. There are various theories about its birth, which began when a young engineer built a prototype on his own rather than an idea that came out of Toyota’s product development meeting.
If a powerful, high-power “Celica 1600GT” or “Carina 1600GT” twin-cam head 2T-G type was mounted on a Corolla body, it could be enjoyed as a car that evolves into a sports model. There is still a theory that such a challenge gave birth to the car nicknamed “Jar Horse.
In conjunction with the increased power, the suspension was strengthened with MacPherson struts in the front and leaf rigid in the rear. The car was tuned to be quicker, using extremely thick 175/70HR13 tires for the time, and even the steering gear ratios were reviewed.
It was the manga “Shakotan Boogie” that made him fall in love with the car
Tomoya Tanabe, a resident of Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, who is introduced here, says he fell in love with the style of the car, which not only had the famous 2T-G engine installed in a small popular car body and reinforced suspension, but also had its looks radically retrofitted with over fenders. Mr. Tanabe was born in 1973 and will soon turn 51 years old, and this TE27 model is also a 1973 model. He says that he did not specifically target this car, but it was just a coincidence.
The reason I came to know and like this TE27 was because it appeared in the manga “Shakotan★Boogie” and was depicted as a ridiculously fast machine on a mountain pass. It was a long time ago, so many of you may have forgotten about it, but in “Shakotan★Boogie”, Mayumi, the daughter of the famous Seven’s Mayumi, was depicted driving a TE27 Corolla Levin.
Mr. Tanabe purchased this car about 15 years ago. The model was a Sprinter Treno, and from the time of purchase, the engine displacement had been bored up from 1600cc to 2000cc, it was a tuned machine with a head tune, high cam, Solex carbs, and a TRD tacho foot set.
The previous owner was quite the racer, and the engine was crisp, the interior parts had been removed, and the undercoating had been stripped off, giving it a racy look. It was a car that could be enjoyed as a car to attack a mountain pass like in a comic book. However, since he was old enough to drive it in the past, we ordered the missing interior parts and fabricated it so that it could be driven as a street car. At that time, he casually added full bucket seats and other parts to make it look like it was made back then. </p
Tanabe-san’s Sprinter Trueno is styled with a carbon fiber hood, Vitaroni mirrors, Marshall headlights, and Watanabe wheels. The moss green body color and other original features were carefully maintained, but the car still had the taste of a Showa-era driver, and the enthusiast’s sense of style shone through.
translated by DeepL