Beasts Of The East: 10 Asian Cars Which Deserve A Restomod

November 29, 2017

Toyota MR2

Years produced: 1984-2007

The Toyota MR2 may not seem an obvious choice for a restomod, but I’ve got solid reasoning for this. Firstly, they’re dirt cheap: you can pick one up for under $5000 without much trouble. Secondly, they’re small racers that have big ideas. Built around supercar design, meticulous attention has been put into making sure that everything is as good as can be. The cars are mid-engined, while the fuel tank has been deliberately placed to ensure the car has the best center of gravity possible. It handles superbly as a result, with corners made without breaking a single sweat. The only well-known issue with the MR2 is how airy the steering can become above 100 mph, but that’s fairly minor, all things considered.

It’s built like the proverbial brick outhouse. The fittings are incredible, the standard equipment (for the time) was revolutionary, and its performance brilliant for such a low price. If you want acceleration, you’ll find it here, with a 0-60 time of around eight seconds. It may not be a record breaker, but if you fancied it, you could change that. Take one of these and do an engine swap, putting in something like the V6 from a Camry, and you’ll have a genuine speed demon. Match this with new transmission and some custom suspension, and you’re going to have more fun than you ever thought possible without a consenting partner. Extremely customisable and cheap, it’s a huge surprise that you don’t see more of these being restomodded into near-supercars.

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