Toyota remains tight-lipped about whether its latest WRC entry signals a Celica revival, so let's talk about a late-1980s Toyota off-roader that speaks for itself. This is a Corolla GT-S coupe from the era when that badge traded on a reputation for dependability rather than excitement. The front-wheel-drive Corollas that followed the iconic AE86 never quite got the cultural momentum that Initial D gave the older car, so they remain largely overlooked. That's about to change for at least one of them.
This 1989 AE92-chassis Corolla belongs to Randy Wimenta, an employee at KC Hilites who uses it as his personal daily driver. The car started its life as a plain white front-wheel-drive coupe. The turning point came when Wimenta discovered an Ivan Stewart-inspired rendering on Instagram by digital artist @stevoform—an AE86 Corolla reimagined as a desert racing machine wearing classic yellow, orange, and red Toyota racing livery. He saw his blueprint.
What makes the AE86 GT-S special is its traditional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive architecture, with a longitudinally mounted four-cylinder and a central gearbox that gives it a natural tendency to slide. The AE92 generation moved to a transverse engine and front-wheel drive, but that layout also opens the door to all-wheel drive, as demonstrated by the All-Trac Corolla wagons of the era. Wimenta tracked down a rough example of one of those wagons and started building.
Transforming two ordinary Toyotas into a single extraordinary one took considerable time and effort. The finished car features a suspension built around Bilstein and Eibach components, Raceline wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich K02 off-road tires, and a full spare tire rack and carrier. Because Wimenta works for KC Hilites, the car is also equipped with a complete set of auxiliary lighting for night racing.
The build made its debut at SEMA a couple of years ago and drew significant attention. But it was never meant to just sit on a show floor, and Wimenta wasted little time going racing. This weekend, the car is entered in the Mint 400—the grueling desert race in the Las Vegas area that inspired Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Dubbed the AWDROLA (pronounced "Odd Rolla"), the Corolla will compete in the Gambler/Hooptie-X Modified class, facing 400 miles of desert sand and rock. While AE86s have carved their reputations on Japanese mountain passes, they rarely have to deal with dune jumps and rattlesnakes. This one will.
Results are available on the Mint 400 website, and the AWDROLA's progress is worth following. It's a remarkable build that demonstrates how Toyota enthusiasm can stretch far beyond the ordinary, blending the spirit of Takumi Fujiwara with the grit of Marty McFly into a single desert-racing package.
