Unassuming silver bullet

This particular model of car swept through our lives, taking over Bangladesh's streets in the 90's like a swarm of loyal mongrel puppies. They were everywhere. And everyone either adopted them or simply accepted them. Because of the popularity and the availability, these cars made for a ready platform for custom projects, except, in most cases, the projects ended up more of a Frankenstein than a beauty queen. This AE91 begs to differ. Farhan Faiz started work on this with one goal in mind - simplicity. No strange bodykits, no unnecessary Fast and Furious spoiler.
His greatest support is his father who took an active interest in helping Farhan build the car the way he wanted. His father bought the car for him around September 2012. The day it came in, he took off the steel bumpers and tinted the windows. A E90 platform Corolla is available by the hundreds. But most are as sound as a three day old burger found under a movie theatre seat. They are saggy, moldy and thoroughly stepped on. Farhan got lucky and found one with a clean interior and no structural damage.
The mods mantra is keep it clean, adding performance. The easy, obvious upgrade was a 1.6 4AGE Blacktop producing around 160bhp mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. This is a very light car, so those horses don't have much resistance to get the car moving. All that horizontal movement needed to be stopped with a brake upgrade because the stock ones just barely do the job. AE111 discs front and rear added extra stopping grunt for the 195mm wide, 15 inch Yokohama tires and wheels. Light cars may not be particularly comfortable on a bumpy highway but in town or around winding open roads, this lightness pays off. Our short spin through Dhanmondi's lunar landscape proved the ride to be surprisingly compliant. Those P1 lowering springs on stock shocks give the car a great stance without making it unbearable over potholes.

One cool mod is that the battery has been relocated to the trunk, cleaning up the look of the engine bay. That way the battery stays in a cool place and should last longer. One thing I like very much is he has avoided going with silly gauges. The car has the GT cluster so all necessary gauges are there. His only addition is a shift lamp.
So why this car? Cause it's cheap to begin with. It's the perfect first car. Parts are available everywhere. And it's old enough that most thieves might skip it just as long as you park near a new car. Stock parts for this car are everywhere. I once found a brake master cylinder replacement near a bus stand in a town in Moulvibazaar.
He's built the perfect sleeper. The only thing that gives it away is the slightly loud exhaust.

Owner: Farhan faiz
Loves to drive slow to avoid electric rickshaws. Currently studying Automotive Technology Engineering in USA.

Words & Photos Ehsanur Raza Ronny