Toyota Trueno TE61
Discussion
Here's my Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT that I bought in Spring this year. This thread will be a bit of a shameless advert because the car is for sale, but I also want to document what the the TE61 Trueno is and why I like it so much. Why such a short ownership period? I didn't really appreciate that my wife perhaps doesn't want a classic as a daily driver. She was very reasonable about it but we are in Hong Kong and I need one car that is enjoyable enough to drive at the weekends and she can also use for the school run. I settled on a 996 Tiptronic a couple of weeks ago. I'll advertise the Trueno on PH soon and you can also find it on Facebook if you're handy with the search function.
It's a 1977 Sprinter Trueno GT TE61. I bought the car from a pilot who was moving to the UK. We became friends through me buying the car and still keep in touch. He is a classics nut and I'm sure he's nosing around these forums somewhere but I'm tempted to let him find this thread on his own. I love Japanese cars, so when I saw this advertised on Facebook with the pictures you see in this thread (taken by somebody who I know is on here - Hello Ben
), I was pretty much done and knew it would be mine.
For anybody who doesn't know, the Levin/Trueno is the top of the Corolla line, like the RS to Ford's Escort. Most of you will be familiar with the AE86 that is popular with drifters. Even now I own the car and have done a fair amount of internet research on it and the Trueno range, I can't count myself as anything approaching an expert on either. Please forgive any errors to model names/numbers etc and I will correct as I go.
My Sprinter GT lived in Japan for most of its life and was imported to Hong Kong around 2009. In 2013 the previous owner bought it, added the current wheels and red decals on the side, made a few other minor cosmetic changes and mechanical improvements, and the end result I think you'll agree is fantastic. It certainly gets a lot of attention and was recently an entrant to the Hong Kong Classic here in summer.
Mechanically it's very advanced for 1977. It has a 1600 litre twin-cam engine with Bosch fuel injection. This is the same 2T-G power unit found in the hot Celica of the day but the lighter Trueno is actually quicker than the Celica. The Trueno engine derivative is 2T-GEU, EU meaning it has fuel injection.
It has custom stainless steel headers and exhaust, which really make the car sound great. Never loud, it burbles on tickover and rasps just enough up to the redline. I've not had a car without fuel injection since an old Sylva Stylus with Ford Crossflow and Dellortos (from memory) that was highly tuned but was an absolute bugger to start when cold and I ended up selling it to a mad Frenchman. This car thankfully starts first time, every time, even after being left for a week or two.
Power goes to the rear wheels via a five speed gearbox and limited slip differential. I'm used to having at least a three litre engine in a car, so I can't honestly say I think it's fast, but with about 110bhp and around 975kg kerbweight progress is probably on a par with an original MX5. The gearbox is slick though, with a well defined gate. At the front are MacPherson struts with leaf springs at the rear. It has 185/55 Dunlop rubber all round, which makes the non-PAS Pitman arm steering a little heavy at low speeds. I have thought about a PAS conversion, but as the car is for sale that may be for the next owner to decide on.
More details to follow, but for now here are some more of the pictures that made me fall in love with the car:
Those plastic headlight covers are as far as I know unique to the Trueno. The wing mirrors take a little getting used to but after a couple of months you stop instinctively looking for them out the side windows.
I'll post more pictures of the mechanicals/interior later.
I wanted to say thanks and congratulations to everybody who posts in the Readers Cars area of PH. Over the Christmas period I've enjoyed catching up on the progress made on a few projects I have followed in the past (very little in the case of the Lexspace!). I've only undertaken one repair/modification to this car which I will try to document as well as I can in due course. Compared to what some other people achieve though it will seem crushingly simple.
It's a 1977 Sprinter Trueno GT TE61. I bought the car from a pilot who was moving to the UK. We became friends through me buying the car and still keep in touch. He is a classics nut and I'm sure he's nosing around these forums somewhere but I'm tempted to let him find this thread on his own. I love Japanese cars, so when I saw this advertised on Facebook with the pictures you see in this thread (taken by somebody who I know is on here - Hello Ben
), I was pretty much done and knew it would be mine.For anybody who doesn't know, the Levin/Trueno is the top of the Corolla line, like the RS to Ford's Escort. Most of you will be familiar with the AE86 that is popular with drifters. Even now I own the car and have done a fair amount of internet research on it and the Trueno range, I can't count myself as anything approaching an expert on either. Please forgive any errors to model names/numbers etc and I will correct as I go.
My Sprinter GT lived in Japan for most of its life and was imported to Hong Kong around 2009. In 2013 the previous owner bought it, added the current wheels and red decals on the side, made a few other minor cosmetic changes and mechanical improvements, and the end result I think you'll agree is fantastic. It certainly gets a lot of attention and was recently an entrant to the Hong Kong Classic here in summer.
Mechanically it's very advanced for 1977. It has a 1600 litre twin-cam engine with Bosch fuel injection. This is the same 2T-G power unit found in the hot Celica of the day but the lighter Trueno is actually quicker than the Celica. The Trueno engine derivative is 2T-GEU, EU meaning it has fuel injection.
It has custom stainless steel headers and exhaust, which really make the car sound great. Never loud, it burbles on tickover and rasps just enough up to the redline. I've not had a car without fuel injection since an old Sylva Stylus with Ford Crossflow and Dellortos (from memory) that was highly tuned but was an absolute bugger to start when cold and I ended up selling it to a mad Frenchman. This car thankfully starts first time, every time, even after being left for a week or two.
Power goes to the rear wheels via a five speed gearbox and limited slip differential. I'm used to having at least a three litre engine in a car, so I can't honestly say I think it's fast, but with about 110bhp and around 975kg kerbweight progress is probably on a par with an original MX5. The gearbox is slick though, with a well defined gate. At the front are MacPherson struts with leaf springs at the rear. It has 185/55 Dunlop rubber all round, which makes the non-PAS Pitman arm steering a little heavy at low speeds. I have thought about a PAS conversion, but as the car is for sale that may be for the next owner to decide on.
More details to follow, but for now here are some more of the pictures that made me fall in love with the car:
Those plastic headlight covers are as far as I know unique to the Trueno. The wing mirrors take a little getting used to but after a couple of months you stop instinctively looking for them out the side windows.
I'll post more pictures of the mechanicals/interior later.
I wanted to say thanks and congratulations to everybody who posts in the Readers Cars area of PH. Over the Christmas period I've enjoyed catching up on the progress made on a few projects I have followed in the past (very little in the case of the Lexspace!
). I've only undertaken one repair/modification to this car which I will try to document as well as I can in due course. Compared to what some other people achieve though it will seem crushingly simple.Edited by nsa on Monday 28th December 18:28
kin hell 
That's beautiful!The car is advertised on PH: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/t...
The price is GBP10,000 or near offer. I think that's cheap given the rarity and condition. The buyer will obviously have to pay for shipping but I can help arrange and will prep and escort it to the container myself.
I've advertised it in HK but the market for classics here is very patchy, and I suspect it will get shipped off to the UK, Japan, or Australia. The weather is a bit miserable here at the moment and I think it will sell in the summer if anything. In the meantime I'm putting it on forums etc in the hope to give it 'global' exposure.
I wish I could say I have done real work on this car but I haven't. So what follows is just pictures and my description of them as though you were blind.
More photos:
In there you have rev counter (7,000 redline), coolant temperature, oil temp, oil pressure, amp meter, fuel, clock. The steering wheel is not exactly the one that is pictured, but it is similar, and it has a Tom's logo on it rather than the Teq. The previous owner couldn't be parted from the Teq steering wheel. The gearshift is nice and precise and the position of the gearstick is almost in front of the steering wheel - I'm used to gearsticks being further back and lower.
The knob on top of the steering column activates the hazard lights, and you have to press the switch above the key to get the keys out. Pointless rambling here but I would like to say something about each photo.
Five speeds, handy for the motorway. I think this would have been a rarity in 1977 on most cars, nevermind a souped up Corolla. The gate action is very nice and precise, although you wouldn't want to rush it, and change downs are best done with a double declutch. It's a good excuse to blip the throttle and hear the stainless steel headers and exhaust. Above the gearstick you can see the air conditioning controls. Without A/C most cars would be unbearable to drive in Hong Kong. In summer it can get to 35c with 95% humidity. On the left is the "OK" light, which is supposed to indicate any problems with the car. I will come back to this later.
Rear boot. Immaculate, like everything else. The fuel tank is behind where the metal jack handle is. You can just pull away the panel and there it is, gleaming away. I'm not sure if this would be allowed now but it certainly makes removal easy.
Ten cassette stereo. It's not obvious, but it doesn't hold ten cassettes, and unfortunately there's something wrong so the radio / tape player don't work. I'm not sure you can still get AM anyway.
Here's that 2TG-EU engine with the custom header. They look a bit dirty in this photo, everything has had a clean and polish since it was taken. I've no idea when it was fitted, but everything from the exhaust port back is stainless. It looks great and makes a fantastic noise. Just loud enough to get peoples' attention, but it doesn't drone or sound loud inside. I suspect it makes about the same noise as a well-tuned Alfa Twin.
Most classic cars here have had modern electric fans retro fitted and this is no exception. The car would boil in traffic without it but even crawling around town on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer the temperature gauge has behaved itself.
You can see the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection at the top of the picture. Again, for this to have fuel injection in 1977 I think is amazing.
Chassis and engine plate marking it out as a true Treuno Sprinter GT. The EU after the 2TG engine means it has fuel injection.
Interior shot. High seat backs - another bonus that makes the car easy to like.
So this is the "OK" Monitor that is linked to the OK light above the air con controls. You can't really see it here but it has a red LED dot matrix display that you scroll through by using the button on the right. From memory it checks BATTERY, OIL, BRAKES, LIGHTS.
Everywhere looks like this. I can't find any rust on the car at all. Small confession, it has had a respray at some point, but it was clearly a full stripped chassis job.
Glovebox.
Classic Car Club of Hong Kong sticker. The club is about 50:50 expats to locals and there is some incredible machinery, from Mini-mokes to an Aston DB5, Honda City to F40. Technically I'm not yet a member but the PO was.
Upskirt shot.
When the weather is nicer I will make a video of me driving the car around Hong Kong and post the link here.
The price is GBP10,000 or near offer. I think that's cheap given the rarity and condition. The buyer will obviously have to pay for shipping but I can help arrange and will prep and escort it to the container myself.
I've advertised it in HK but the market for classics here is very patchy, and I suspect it will get shipped off to the UK, Japan, or Australia. The weather is a bit miserable here at the moment and I think it will sell in the summer if anything. In the meantime I'm putting it on forums etc in the hope to give it 'global' exposure.
I wish I could say I have done real work on this car but I haven't. So what follows is just pictures and my description of them as though you were blind.
More photos:
In there you have rev counter (7,000 redline), coolant temperature, oil temp, oil pressure, amp meter, fuel, clock. The steering wheel is not exactly the one that is pictured, but it is similar, and it has a Tom's logo on it rather than the Teq. The previous owner couldn't be parted from the Teq steering wheel. The gearshift is nice and precise and the position of the gearstick is almost in front of the steering wheel - I'm used to gearsticks being further back and lower.
The knob on top of the steering column activates the hazard lights, and you have to press the switch above the key to get the keys out. Pointless rambling here but I would like to say something about each photo.
Five speeds, handy for the motorway. I think this would have been a rarity in 1977 on most cars, nevermind a souped up Corolla. The gate action is very nice and precise, although you wouldn't want to rush it, and change downs are best done with a double declutch. It's a good excuse to blip the throttle and hear the stainless steel headers and exhaust. Above the gearstick you can see the air conditioning controls. Without A/C most cars would be unbearable to drive in Hong Kong. In summer it can get to 35c with 95% humidity. On the left is the "OK" light, which is supposed to indicate any problems with the car. I will come back to this later.
Rear boot. Immaculate, like everything else. The fuel tank is behind where the metal jack handle is. You can just pull away the panel and there it is, gleaming away. I'm not sure if this would be allowed now but it certainly makes removal easy.
Ten cassette stereo. It's not obvious, but it doesn't hold ten cassettes, and unfortunately there's something wrong so the radio / tape player don't work. I'm not sure you can still get AM anyway.
Here's that 2TG-EU engine with the custom header. They look a bit dirty in this photo, everything has had a clean and polish since it was taken. I've no idea when it was fitted, but everything from the exhaust port back is stainless. It looks great and makes a fantastic noise. Just loud enough to get peoples' attention, but it doesn't drone or sound loud inside. I suspect it makes about the same noise as a well-tuned Alfa Twin.
Most classic cars here have had modern electric fans retro fitted and this is no exception. The car would boil in traffic without it but even crawling around town on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of summer the temperature gauge has behaved itself.
You can see the Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection at the top of the picture. Again, for this to have fuel injection in 1977 I think is amazing.
Chassis and engine plate marking it out as a true Treuno Sprinter GT. The EU after the 2TG engine means it has fuel injection.
Interior shot. High seat backs - another bonus that makes the car easy to like.
So this is the "OK" Monitor that is linked to the OK light above the air con controls. You can't really see it here but it has a red LED dot matrix display that you scroll through by using the button on the right. From memory it checks BATTERY, OIL, BRAKES, LIGHTS.
Everywhere looks like this. I can't find any rust on the car at all. Small confession, it has had a respray at some point, but it was clearly a full stripped chassis job.
Glovebox.
Classic Car Club of Hong Kong sticker. The club is about 50:50 expats to locals and there is some incredible machinery, from Mini-mokes to an Aston DB5, Honda City to F40. Technically I'm not yet a member but the PO was.
Upskirt shot.
When the weather is nicer I will make a video of me driving the car around Hong Kong and post the link here.
Marvellous. Shame if it ended up rusting inexorably and slowly over here after surviving so well in Japan/HK.
nsa said:
you have to press the switch above the key to get the keys out.
Hah! Pesky Toyota and their clever ideas! I have a distinct memory of spending an hour in the dark trying to work out how to get the keys out after driving an AW11 MR2 home for the first time.
Some under car shots:
Front of the car looking back.
I have helpfully labelled the gearbox That looks like an aluminium casing but I can't be sure.
Leaf-sprung live rear axle. I can attest to the fact that there is an LSD in there because the car will drift in the wet if asked. I will look for the spec but I think it accepts only a small amount of slip because the rear wheels will chirp around any roundabout if taken with any enthusiasm.
The rear suspension has been lowered using blocks that you can see to the right of the damper. It could do with being dropped another centimetre or so. There is a (trailing link?) visible just above the spring on the right hand side. That's a new Bilstein damper.
Front of the car looking back.
I have helpfully labelled the gearbox
That looks like an aluminium casing but I can't be sure. Leaf-sprung live rear axle. I can attest to the fact that there is an LSD in there because the car will drift in the wet if asked. I will look for the spec but I think it accepts only a small amount of slip because the rear wheels will chirp around any roundabout if taken with any enthusiasm.
The rear suspension has been lowered using blocks that you can see to the right of the damper. It could do with being dropped another centimetre or so. There is a (trailing link?) visible just above the spring on the right hand side. That's a new Bilstein damper.
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