Ricky Fujitake from Hawaii gave us a walkaround of his 1972 second-generation T72 Toyota Corolla drag car dubbed the Executioner.
That is a big yet worthy title for the classic Corolla as it is said to have posted 9.8 seconds at over 140 mph on a quarter-mile drag race. Renowned LA-based car photographer Larry Chen caught up with Fujitake and learned how a small sedan can deliver such an impressive feat.
Powering the Executioner is a Toyota 1.8-liter 3TC engine with custom internals from PSI Racing, a Florida-based shop that urged Fujitake to ditch the use of nitro in favor of a turbocharger.
The owner then fitted a Precision 6266 Ball Bearing Gen2 turbocharger, pushing the engine to 458 horsepower at 31 lbs of boost in third gear on the dyno. It sends power to the rear wheels via a 5-speed Toyota W50 transmission.
If the boost is increased to 40 lbs, the Corolla build could make as much as 550 hp, even close to 600 hp even, according to Fujitake. Making it more interesting is the fact that the engine only made approximately 98 hp from the factory, which translates to five times more power.
The engine in the Executioner was pulled from a 1981 E70 Toyota Corolla build, which appears to be parked in the same gated residential. It was replaced with a so-called 1.5JZ, an unofficial name for a 1JZ head and 2JZ block engine build, with 740 hp.
Both the project cars in the Aloha state are capable of clocking nine-second quarter-mile drag times, with the 1.5JZ-powered Corolla doing a claimed 9.5 seconds. For the uninitiated, the nine-second club is joined by the likes of the Ferrari SF-90 Stradale (9.5 seconds), McLaren 720S (9.4 seconds), and Tesla Model S Plaid (9.23 seconds).
Fujitake’s next target is to achieve 9.70 seconds in the Executioner at over 140 mph…CONTINUE READING>>
