Last updated on December 1, 2024
Today’s car is a 1974 Toyota Corolla SR5 owned by Nicolas and build by his father Santos Renovals. I photographed this car at the 19th Annual Redondo Pier Rods, Rides, & Relics on the Pier Car Show held in Redondo Beach, CA. The car is finished in 2000 Dodge Charger Big Bad Orange with a black with red striping vinyl interior. It is powered by 250 hp, 1.8 liter, 3T-C hemi head inline 4, fuel injected, turbo charged engine, built by Santos, It is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission with 4.56 final drive ratio. Slowing this beauty down are disc brakes up front from a 1985 Toyota Corolla GTS and in the rear brakes are drums. The front independent suspension uses a MacPherson Strut set up sourced from a 1985 Toyota Corolla GTS with an anti-roll bar and in the rear is a live axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs with, shocks. For a cleaner look Santos sourced the imported small bumpers over the bulky 5 mph federally mandated impact bumpers.
The second generation Toyota Corolla’s were built at the Takaoka Plant, Toyota City, Aichi, Japan from 1970 to 1974, Toyota introduced the SR5 (Sport Rally Five-Speed) coupe model in 1973 and was produced from 1973 and 1974. The SR5 was intended to help Toyota grow into new markets. The sporty appearance included the factory installed bolt on metal fender flares and handling upgrades that included unique front struts and springs, and a thicker front sway bar. The MSRP was $3850.00 The third generation SR5 coupe was produce from 1974 to 1979 and the main visual difference was that the fender flares were now incorporated in the fenders.
You can see and feel the pride when talking to Santos about this SR5, in fact any of his builds. As a side note he told me if you add racing fuel and increase the boost to 38 pounds this engine can produce 541 hp on the dyno, Wow. This is the nicest example of a Resto-Mod Toyota SR5 sports coupe that I have ever seen. What a great car to take to Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) car shows, local car shows, Cars & Coffee events, or just drifting through the curves in the canyons. Thank you for riding along. Frank
