After 7 years of searching autotrader.com, carsoup.com, and buying local and surrounding state newspapers. I finally found my 1986 Toyota Corolla GT-S! A guy in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota was selling it. I picked it up for $3500. The price was steep, but it was a small price to pay considering the years I've spent looking for the car.
The body was is REALLY bad shape. The white paint that was on it was all off. The front fenders were a different color from the doors and so on. And both the rear wheel wells were cut about an inch off so they could put some whack fender flares on. The front fenders were some sort of aftermarket that didn't even fit, so every time the door open it would hit the fenders. The exhaust had a hole in it about four inches long so it sounded really crappy. To top it all off, it didn't have ANY interior pieces! The list just goes on and on...
Anyway, my drive home in the car I really thought about what absolutely HAD to be done. First thing I did was restoring the entire body and giving it a new paint job. My uncle and I started sanding the whole car and prepping it. For a few weeks I was wondering on what color i should paint it. Then after watching Initial D for a while I decided to go with the panda black and white. My uncle brought some paint from his work place and I had one of my cousin's friends do the paint job. He did a poor job on it. Even though I gave him the 1:24 scale model car and walked him through on how to paint the car, he still screwed up. I wasn't satisfied with the paint job but had no choice but to pay him on it.
Besides the body job I needed to replace the exhaust because it was too loud and causing really bad gas mileage. So I picked up the OBX-R exhaust system on ebay. It sounds to much better now and better gas mileage too!
I never believed in buying someone else's work when it came to cars. That's why I bought my car the way it was. People laugh and make fun of me for buying such an old car at such a high price. But for the people who know what this car is and it's capabilities in the racing world, you guys know exactly what I'm aiming for. Also as a new family guy at such a young age, I'm at a financial halt for this project. That's why I'm here with my story in hopes to get the sponsorship that I need to pursue one of my life dreams. Also to show other people and fans of the AE86 corolla that despite how old the car is and/or what kind of shape it's in. A little patients and commitment, this car will go from and ugly duckling to a beautiful swan.
Unlike other people's unrealistic dreams wanting to own a ferrari or bentley, mine was fairly simple. Even if I never get sponsored, at least I can literally say "I have my dream car."