Project Cars | The Daily Star

  • FWD Tofu run: Toyota AE91 Trueno

    On May 1983, the world got the latest version of one of the most iconic sports cars from Toyota’s stable—a plucky, lightweight, chuck-able (albeit underpowered) two door coupe based on their best-selling sedan, the Corolla/Sprinter.

  • Riders on the storm – AR Underground

    Braving a cyclone to attend a car meet is no small feat. Yet, dedicated auto enthsuasists of the country showed up to Jamuna Future Park to attend Auto Rebellion Underground, a car meet featuring the cream of the crop of the car scene despite Cyclone Fani bearing down on them.

  • American style, Japanese power - 1988 Toyota Mark II X71

    In a way, the Mark II is a best-of-both-worlds vehicle, combining the grace and style of America’s large sedans with the efficiency, reliability and handling afforded by Japan’s engineering ingenuity. Ziyaad Rahman’s restored Toyota X71 Mark II has a long history behind it—from family road trips to countless years of family bonding with the Mark II as a suitably large family sedan.

  • Toyota's M5 killer – Aristo V300 Vertex

    The idea of a super-sedan is not new. The idea of a luxurious, smooth, four-door sedan being blisteringly fast was tinkered with by manufacturers such as Jaguar in the late 50s and 60s—resulting in cars like the Mark 2, which effectively took Jaguar away from pure sports cars and into the luxury-sports car market, where they've stayed to date. With time, the Germans came to the forefront—cars like the Benz 300 SEL 6.3 and first-gen BMW M5 cemented Germany's reputation for building fast, luxurious sports sedans.

  • Forced Induction Meet - 300 Feet Road, Purbachal

    Turbo cars used to be the reserve of the extremely wealthy or the extremely lucky back in the heady days of the early 2000s. Even now,

  • BREAKFAST CAR CLUB

    Taking this shot involved standing on and denting a Toyota Allion’s roof. We

  • Widebody daily

    The Toyota Corolla 100. Where to begin? How about the fact that it's probably one of the most reliable workhorses you can buy? It'll

  • Gypsy Danger

    The Maruti Suzuki Gypsy is not a new car, even though you can have a brand new one within three months if you pay an advance and wait patiently in India.

  • Altezza meet

    The Altezza is perhaps one of the most overlooked drivers' cars out there. For several generations this underrated Lexus/Toyota has

  • Conversion therapy

    In the late 80s, there was a surge in the demand for stylish, hardtop sedans in Japan. Fueled by rampant economic growth thanks to a

  • Cage fighter/stress reliever

    Subaru has come a long way from the mid to late-90s. Following the rallying success of the GC8 Impreza to releasing street

  • JZX + more meet

    The recent wave of 1JZ and 2JZ swaps into otherwise subtle and subdued Toyota Mark IIs and Chasers has resulted in a

  • Project cars: HATER MAGNET MAZDA

    Customisers love it, purists hate it - a wild Toyota powered Mazda RX8

  • Restored and Recomissioned

    Md Shariful Islam Sunny is no stranger to being featured on Shift – he is a certifiable automotive geek with an inclination towards classic metal, with his current garage consisting of the 1978 Lancer, 2001 Pajero and the 1984 KIA KM414 we're looking at today.

  • Power Rush: 1999 Toyota Mark II Tourer V

    About two years ago, I wrote the very first article for Shift, about a Toyota Crown. That was not like any other Crown

  • A love letter to the Hawkeye - Subaru Impreza WRX

    Subaru's halo car is the Impreza. And the Hawk Eye version is the second most preferred among the fans.

  • Catching a unicorn: DA5 Integra Coupe

    The entries in the Honda lineage of the 80s and 90s served very specific purposes for the brand – much like the

  • Straight as an arrow - Toyota Altezza RS200

    When Toyota launched the Altezza in Japan in 1998 and subsequently decided to sell it as the Lexus IS (Intelligent Sport) in Europe and North America, their idea was to make a capable, well rounded sport sedan that would offer sharper driving dynamics than the rest of the softly sprung executive sedans that were for sale in the Lexus range.

  • Modern classic - Toyota Corolla E90 GT

    The Toyota Corolla E90 is now a thirty-year-old model. For a few people out there, lightweight sedans from the 90's give the kind of feedback that modern cars with their well-insulated interiors and dampened steering setups just can't provide. Victor is one of those people, and this is his E90 GT.

  • Twin Turbo Sleekness - 1JZGTE Toyota Mark II X90

    The seventh generation Mark II, codenamed “X90”, was the first in a long line of Mark-II's with which Toyota experimented with a different design language – they made it sleeker, added powerful turbo 6-cylinder motors, and made a brilliant all-rounder that is perfect for a project car.

  • Rescuing a Savanna

    Azwad Anwar's 1978 Mazda Savanna RX7 has had a new lease on life thanks to a Toyota motor and restored bodywork.

  • Late ‘90s chic: Toyota Carina

    This week we pick the very last Carina generation: the 7th gen made from 1996 to 2001.

  • Static pains of stance - Mitsubishi Lancer EX

    The world of stanced cars is a phenomenon hardly understood by those without continued exposure to the car cultures elsewhere in the world. We try to understand it with a local example.

  • Split personality - 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MR

    The Evolution X is apparently the last of the legendary Evo series, and it's the only Evo to be offered with a 6-speed dual clutch SST automatic. We take a look at this phenomenal motorsport bred race-car for the road.

  • 10 year old experiment

    The Toyota AE100 Corolla is no stranger to us - this is a car that wears many masks and disguises as we've discovered. This week, Shift goes for a spin in Quazi Raheeb Hossain's turbo powered Corolla.

  • Midnight chase: 1999 JZX100 Chaser Tourer V

    The Toyota Chaser JZX100 - some call it the four door Supra, some call it the Japanese M5. All I know is it's my childhood dream to own one. It's pretty simple why these cars are still appreciated and sought after, even 20 years after their initial release.

  • Smooth Lines: JZX100 Mark II Tourer V

    Shareq Abhtahee longed to build an X100, and it had to be a Mark II with the right bit of both the worlds – elegant, yet sporty.

  • Battle of the boxers: Subaru Impreza STI & WRX

    Two childhood friends and their obsession with cars and performance lead them to similar yet distinct results - two fun, reliable, quick Subarus.

  • Red Rocket: 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI

    Adeeb Iqbal went from a heavily bodykitted FWD Corona nearly a decade ago to this tastefully built AWD Mitsubishi Evolution VI.

  • Low down: The South Asian way of doing it

    The South Asian style of building basic cars like the Corolla takes a page out of classic Japanese tuning: lowering the car until it scrapes and is mostly difficult to drive. Bonkers, but cool.

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