Richard Trujillo - 1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex

This Levin had already been mildly customized with Advan A3A wheels, suspension and exhaust but just like every other car I've owned, I wanted to personalize it for me. I wanted to bring back that memory of my first ride as a teenager in a GTS. This meant I would leave the interior relatively stock and make some exterior modifications with JDM inspiration. 

Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex
Richard Trujillo  -  1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex

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Richard Trujillo

1986 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex

Instagram: @oldrc_rich

Photographer: @mr2mivin

I am a Senior Product Developer for Horizon Hobby living in Fontana California (SoCal). My job is creating Remote Control cars for the Brands Axial Racing and Losi R/C Cars. I have been working as a developer for 15 years and working on all types of R/C Cars...From Drift R/C, large scale gas-powered off-road trucks, to-scale replicas of USDM and JDM road cars, to my main focus of Rock Crawlers in all sizes. 

I have been playing with R/C Cars since I was 12 years old and I'm one of the fortunate people that have been able to turn their hobby into their career. This career has allowed me to work on/build 1:1 cars as my actual hobby. I currently have a collection of Toyota's which include a 1971 Corolla, 1979 Corolla, 1985 Celica GT Liftback and 2018 Toyota Tacoma 4x4.

For as long as I can recall, I've played with and customized cars to my liking. My parents have told me stories where at the age of 4, I was swapping wheels from one toy to another because I thought it made it look better. This I owe to my father who would always do a little something to every car he owned. Most times that was just a nice set of tires and wheels but he always managed to personalize his car and that rubbed off on me. Once I started driving, the personalization of my cars started from day one and other than one or two cars, everyone has had some sort of personalization.

Anyone reading this article has a dream car and that car may have been inspired by a movie, tv-show, poster, neighbour or an uncle that just had a cool car.  For me, at the age of 15 (1985) circumstances lead to me getting a ride in a Red 1984 Toyota Corolla GTS Coupe. The car had been slightly modified with lowered suspension, custom wheels and a modified exhaust. The look, sound and sportiness made me fall instantly in love with that car and I knew that I would have to have one someday. 

At the age of 19 and after selling my hand-me-down 1973 Datsun 240Z (I know what you're thinking) my parents helped me find a 1987 Toyota Corolla Coupe. I was so stoked to get what I thought was my dream car, however, being young and not having the internet, I didn't realize that I had purchased a simple SR5 Coupe with the 4AC. Call me naive but it wasn't until I went to a local custom shop that I learned nothing was made for my model other than lowering springs....had I purchased a GTS Twin Cam it would have been a different story. That didn't stop me from customizing my SR5 and only kept my dream alive of one day owning a Twin Cam Corolla. Fast forward 20 years and I finally bought myself a beat 197 GTS Coupe..Finally, I had my dream car and proceeded to customize it with all the cool JDM parts, custom paint etc. For two years I worked on this project, however, adulthood responsibilities required me to sell my dream car project to buy a home for my growing family.

Moving forward about 10 years, I still had the desire to fulfil my dream and while randomly searching the internet, I found a 1986 RHD Toyota Corolla Levin APEX GT Coupe in beautiful condition that had been imported to the USA. Financial timing aligned just right and with the support of my wife, I finally acquired my dream car.  

This Levin had already been mildly customized with Advan A3A wheels, suspension and exhaust but just like every other car I've owned, I wanted to personalize it for me. I wanted to bring back that memory of my first ride as a teenager in a GTS. This meant I would leave the interior relatively stock and make some exterior modifications with JDM inspiration. 

It took me 36 years to finally own my dream car and that has given me a sense of pride and accomplishment. It's funny, so many of my friends that are not car enthusiasts don't understand how this "old Toyota" could be my dream car but that's ok, I love it. 

The most unique thing about this car is that not only is it Right-hand drive, but it's also a model that was never sold in the USA being a Levin version of the Corolla. Only. The combination of the OEM Red "Panda" scheme, and Black/Gold Work Equip 40's has a unique look. 

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Spec List

Engine:

  • 1.6 DOHC 4AGE
  • Trust Header
  • Techo Toy Tuning "test" Pipe
  • Fujitsubo Giken FGK Exhaust
  • AE86 World Custom Valve Covers

Exterior:

  • JDM Zenki Front Lip
  • Run Free Upper "eye line" trim
  • Clear Turn Signal lens
  • OEM Fog Lights
  • HID Headlights
  • Interior:
  • Tec-Art Leather-wrapped dash cover
  • Rear Seat headrests reupholstered to OEM finish 
  • LED Converted instrument lights
  • Kenwood Stereo

Wheels:

  • Work Equip 40 Gold face/Black Lip 15x8 -6 offset "square"
  • Falken Ziex Z960 195/50/15 Tires
  • Suspension:
  • Greedy Coil Overs
  • Polyurethane Bushings
  • Kaaz LSD
  • Techno Toy Tuning Front Strut Bar

If you enjoyed this Car why not read this ONE HERE

Using my experience from previous builds, I have only been doing general maintenance and some of the simple bolt-ons. Luckily,  the Corolla already had the suspension and differential sorted. I have been doing all the "restoration"/ replacement of OEM parts as I find them and will continue to. 

Future plans include changing the suspension setup to KW Suspension, upgrading to the Techno Toy Tuning "Baby Daddy" brake system, OEM Toyota Side Skirts, OEM Toyota Trunk spoiler and adding another set or two of different style wheels, I'd like to change the look from time to time with a different set of "shoes". 

Advice Tips

The biggest suggestion I would have is to make sure that you look at more than just pictures of a car you may be buying from a seller that is not local to you. I have seen so many fellow enthusiasts take chances on buying a car based on the word and images provided by a seller. Though it did take from my buying budget, I made arrangements to fly out and see the car in person. It wasn't easy, my desire told me to buy my dream car but I took the extra time and expense to see the car in person to confirm that it was what the seller said and I'm glad I did. I've seen too many horror stories from others that didn't take that extra step....another suggestion...Don't give up on that dream car, if you work towards that goal, someday you will have that dream car.  

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Groups/Clubs/Shout outs

My biggest shout out is to my wife who puts up with this car hobby. I'm grateful that she enjoys attending car meets with me and is so supportive about the money I spend on my dream car. Also a huge shout out to Jun Imai with Kaido House. Thanks to  JC Pepino, the guys at Techno Toy Tuning, Greddy Performance, KW Suspension, Best Tire Shop and RPM Garage. 

My fellow AE86 owners in the SoCal area and on the net for feedback and help including 

Instagram:

Finally a shout out to Marvin (@mr2mivin) for the amazing images of my car. 

The scene has brought along a lot of new friendships. It has been great to talk shop with fellow AE86 owners and share the love we have for these cars. There are so many different tastes and styles and it's just been so much fun for my wife and me to enjoy, even with us usually being the oldest couple around LOL.

Dream Car

I got it!

What do you think? leave your comments in the comments section at the bottom of the page

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