The name Hollinger is one that has been engrained in the AE86 community across the world for decades and this latest incarnation from the Hollinger stable is set to keep their heavily custom Corolla’s in attendance at events for many years to come.
Growing into the modified car scene with brothers David (The Boffin) and Steve Hollinger, I have been fortunate enough to keep track of various builds over the years. And it was a feature of the TRD kitted, carbon-clad, supercharged Corolla overhauled by the late David some years ago, that opened a door for me with Dublin based magazine, Modified Motors.
Around the same time, Steve was rocking a turbocharged ‘Boot Coupe’, but due to work commitments it wasn’t seen much locally over the years and each morning a little more of it had rotted onto Steve’s driveway. Hollinger knew what he was getting himself into, however, as his father had bought aa AE86 Corolla brand new in 1987, and older brother, David, owned two before Steve bought his first one in 2004.
These cars are a labour of love, and whilst living in Yorkshire, Steve accepted that his current model was beyond saving. Soon after, he was on his way to London to buy a three-door Japanese model named a Trueno, but sadly it was sold from under him whilst on route to view the car.
Few months later, David took Steve to a shed in the countryside in the Letterkenny area to have a look at a possible acquisition. As it happened, it was actually the car Steve tried to buy in London, but at double the price. A deal was struck on the condition that it was delivered to Steve on Christmas Eve of 2015.
With the car living in North Down, and Steve living and working in England, it only saw progress for a few sporadic weeks of the year. Nonetheless, the car was stripped to a bare shell and taken back to the metal before custom reinforcement plates were welded in various places around the chassis and shell. Before seam welding and resealing was complete.
Collecting the parts required to finish this build to the specification and standard Steve required took around eight years, and since retirement from work in recent years, he’s been able to commit a lot of time to finishing it. Amazingly, it is on the car’s tenth birthday in Steve’s ownership that the build was completed and the car finally saw an MOT centre.
In the interim years, Terry Henry and his late father, Ricky agreed to store the car for Hollinger for as long as required ahead of them painting it. A job which was carried out to clinical perfection and in perfect time for Steve to get the car back once his garage had been completed at his new home.
During the same years, Steve was living in Scotland and, using his grandmothers Singer sewing machine, designed and made the custom interior himself.
‘Built not bought’ is a theme critical to anything that has come from the Hollinger stable over the years and I can only think of two things that Steve hasn’t done on this car himself. The paintwork, and the mapping of the engine. The latter of which was entrusted to the mastermind of JDM tuning, Richard Bradley.
The engine Steve opted for is a 1.8-litre Toyota Carina unit, with a 1.9-litre billet crank stroker system with H beam con rods, forged pistons and a large port 16-valve head. A custom inlet manifold with 70mm throttle body features alongside a suitably beefy T3 turbocharger.
Having experienced the weakness of the Corolla’s standard gearbox when adding the kind of power Steve is aiming for, this Trueno is running a Lexus IS200, 6-speed manual ‘box with one-piece carbon pro shaft.
The suspension is fully custom and adjustable both front and rear. Whilst the braking system uses a mish-mash of parts from Mazda RX-7, BMW Mini Cooper, VW Golf, Nissan Primera GT, and even R33 Skyline GTR parts to make the dream come alive. And stop!
Despite a very traditional Panda paint scheme, synonymous with these cars thanks to the Initial D manga series, the exterior of this Trueno is not in any way traditional with its carbon arch extensions and bonnet, as well as a load of aero splitters and wings on the front and rear bumpers giving it a JDM track-attack stance.
There is really little more I can say, that this spec list doesn’t cover. So I’ll let the extensive shopping list that ensues fill you in on just how immense this project has been.
Engine:
5AFE (1.8 Celica/Carina) with a 7AGE 1.9-litre MRP stroker billet crank. H beam con rods. MRP 7AGE forged pistons. Early spec 16v large port head, KELFORD Cams and adjustable KELFORD Cam gears. Baffled racing sump from MRP. Coolant extension block for taller block. KINGS Race bearings. MRP Large port custom inlet manifold with 70mm billet throttle body. Garrett T3 turbo by Owen Engineering. JSP billet fuel rail. JSP Billet Engine mounts and alternator brackets. ARP fasteners all round. Uprated billet main end caps. Billet engine girdle. CUSCO uprated engine mounts. COMETIC multi layered head gasket. TODA oil pump gear for higher pressure. TODA uprated valve springs with under bucket shims. ZAKLEE clear cam cover. Uprated Bosch injectors. SARD uprated thermostat. Trigger wheel crank pulley. WALPRO uprated fuel pump. Oil catch tank to atmosphere. JSP custom cam covers. MISHIMOTO Alloy radiator with twin electric fans. LINK Monsoon ECU. BLITZ stainless steel mesh air filter. TIAL 38 mm external Wastegate with screamer pipe. Custom 3 inch exhaust with MEGAN RACING under axle exhaust. FUNK MOTORSPORT turbo jacket and exhaust wrap. FRP adjustable fuel pressure sender. MOCAL oil relocation With 19 row oil cooler. Custom intercooler pipe work with custom front mount intercooler. MK4 Supra HKS blow off valve. T3 alu alternator, crank and water pulleys. HKS ground kit. JSP billet radiator brackets. BLITZ Alu expansion bottle. Custom T3 cooling plate and one off windscreen washer bottle. COP coil packs.
Transmission
TODA 1 piece lightened flywheel. 7AGE heavy duty clutch and pressure plate. J160 Lexus IS200 6 speed manual transmission, SQ engineering adapter plate and shifter relocation kit with Nissan S15 6th gear adaptation. 1 piece Carbon fibre prop shaft. KAAZ 2 way diff with 4.3 CWP, TRD 1.5 way diff with 3.9 CWP. PANIC custom early spec competition half shafts.
Suspension/Chassis
TECHNO TOY TUNING (T3) true coil over suspension with helper springs. Fully adjustable T3 trailing arms with Heim (Rose jointed) and poly bush joints. Adjustable T3 Panhard rod with Heim connectors. T3 Panhard rod drop bracket. T3 Traction brackets. Rear perches removed from axle. TRD anti roll bars. T3 anti roll bar drop links fully adjustable. Fully seam welded chassis. 2mm steel reinforcement plates on inner chassis legs, tower mounts, rear towers, main chassis rails to triangulate frame. Custom T3 3 piece front strut brace. CUSCO 3 piece rear strut brace. 2 inch sub frame spacer kit. T3 Off centre RCAs. Adjustable front arms. QUAIFE Quick rack. T3 Adjustable top mounts. 1 inch wheel spacers all round. Heavy Duty front drop links.
Braking System
R33 Skyline GTR master cylinder. Custom over braided brake lines by HEL. Mazda RX7 FD front calipers with PROJECT MU brake pads. Mini Cooper MINTEX front discs. T3 FD caliper brackets. Golf Mk 4 rear brake calipers. 92 Primera GT rear MINTEX rear discs. Custom Handbrake set up. Hydraulic Handbrake with custom lever. FERODO RACE rear pads
Wheels
Billet front hubs. 8×16 Wantanabe Bronze rims. 10×15 custom 3 piece Image alloys. 10×15 custom 3 piece Compomotive race wheels with Superlite centres.
Exterior
One off carbon fibre CBY arches. Quarter panels cut and tubbed. Custom oversized side skirts. Custom single piece flat panel under engine. AE86 Aero rear diffuser. JDM Whiteline rear lights. Carbon Fibre wing mirrors. FRP rear hatch. SEIBON Carbon Fibre bonnet. Custom Precision Engineering bonnet raisers. Custom flip up fog lamps. Early spec chin splitter with custom ARP canards. Carbon fibre canards. JSP fuel cap holder. JSP Front tie down. T3 tow hoop. Custom 2K White over black bare metal respray.
Interior
RECARO Renault Megane leather bucket seats. TANAKA 4 point racing harness with custom mounts. Quick release steering hub with MOMO Race steering wheel. Custom door cards and leather seats. Blackened roof liner. Carbon fibre rear view mirror. SONY double Din DAB with rear view camera, STACK gauges (voltage, Oil pressure, oil temp, coolant temp, boost and Techometer) INNOVATE AFR gauge and Lamda sensor. 6 Point Alu roll cage with welded in brackets. Central locking, electric windows and mirror conversion. Custom HARDRACE foot rest. SPARCO Custom race pedals. Flocked dash. FLOS mats. New carpet from STOCK INTERIORS USA. JSP drinks holder. Push button start system.Exactly twenty years after featuring the last Hollinger Corolla, I must admit that it’s been a great honor and true privilege to get access to this absolute stunner created by Steve that has went down an absolute storm at a couple of shows that it has attended this spring.
