TOM’s Heritage launches restoration programme for Toyota AE86 Corolla Levin in Japan – from RM333k

TOM’S Heritage, the vehicle restoration arm of TOM’S Racing, has officially launched its restoration programme for the Toyota AE86 Corolla Levin. This comes after the company previewed its services at last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, although it won’t come cheap as you’ll soon find out.

Each restoration starts with stripping a car down its bare chassis and repairing areas that may have corroded. Next comes reinforcing the chassis with spot and MIG welding to increase rigidity before the body panels are attached, the latter faithfully reproducing the original look of the car while accompanied by an aerodynamic under panel. TOM’S Racing’s famous Igeta lattice-style four-spoke wheel design in a 15-inch size completes the exterior.

The interior also sees a fair amount of work to ensure the look and feel remains familiar but with better durability. These include the seats that have a urethane base and are upholstered in a new woven fabric to match parts of the door panels.

Even the engine gets a modern touch with knowledge gained from the company’s many years of competing with Toyota’s 4A-G. Derived from the NA1600 racing engine, the 4A-G in the restored AE86 Levin gets an increased bore of 82 mm (from 81 mm) while retaining the same stroke of 77 mm.

This sees the displacement go up from 1,578 cc to 1,626 cc and peak power output increase from the stock 160 PS at 7,400 rpm to 195 PS at 7,980 rpm. Peak torque also gets a bump up from 162 Nm at 5,200 rpm to 191 Nm at 6,490 Nm.

So, how much will all this cost? Well, if you have a donor AE86 Levin, TOM’S Heritage will charge you 13.2 million yen (about RM333k). If you don’t and need the company to source one for you, the asking price is 16.5 million yen (RM417k). Keep in mind that these are starting prices and the final bill might be more by the end.

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