Reducing the overall length of a vehicle, or the shorty concept, is one of the more radical options available for builders who want to make absolutely sure their finished product truly stands out from all the rest. It’s also one of those tricks that works wonders on all classes of vehicles, from beaters all the way up to show-quality machines. This 1972 Toyota Corolla here on Facebook Marketplace was a rather small car to begin with, so chopping more than a foot is a significant loss. Thankfully, there was also a substantial gain here, and that’s in the performance department. This unusual custom is located in Willow River, Minnesota, and the $6,250 cost sounds fairly reasonable. Rocco B., thanks for the fun tip here!
Short here also are the seller’s words in his description, but once you get into the photos, there’s quite a bit more text that sheds additional light on exactly what is going on here. Apparently, this build dates back over 40 years, with the paint being applied in 1985. The finish is now cracking, peeling, and falling off, so it’s probably time to perform another cosmetic redo on the exterior. The good news here is that there’s not much mass, so based solely on the size, it shouldn’t be a huge task to strip the finish off and start over. Besides having a 14-inch section of the body removed, there aren’t many other details provided regarding the actual chop.
For a build like this, choosing an aluminum 1962 Buick 215-cubic-inch V8 sounds like a wise decision, as it was a lightweight block to begin with. The seller reports that it was bored .030 over and produces 200 horsepower, and it’s paired with a 5-speed manual sourced from a 1976 Oldsmobile. There’s some sort of noise coming from the transmission, but it’s said to operate fine despite the sound. Outback, there’s a rear end from a 1959 Pontiac with 3.23 gears inside.
We only get to see one photo of the interior, but it’s enough to show that quite a few custom details went into the inside area as well. There’s nothing particularly elaborate, but it seems to work well with the rest of this build, and the condition remains pretty decent in here for the most part. One of the supplied photos shows text indicating the seller initially asked $10,000, and with the price already down to $6,250, I think he’s probably serious about his proclamation that cash talks. What are your thoughts on this shorty Corolla?
Wonder how fast it is over the 1/8 mile…
It needs some really long wheelie bars. It reminds me of a toy wind-up dog that does backflips. The next owner could go full gasser for some added danger.
At my home track the first thing tech would do is measure the wheelbase, NHRA has a minimum of 85 inches, if it was shorter than that the inspection would be over.
Steve R
Factory stock a ’72 Corolla (all body styles) rides a 91.9″ wb.
Whoops.
Got to be squirrelly-definitely will gather a few car nuts..
An interesting project. I’ll bet it needs wheelie bars when you stand on the loud pedal.
LOL the first thing that came to my mind when I saw that wheelbase:
https://media.tenor.com/Qtl9ApSg1EkAAAAM/up-dogs.gif
Is that the fragile 5sp box from the Colonnade era ?
An internet search says it would be a Borg-Warner T-50, and only available with a 260 V8. 110HP, pretty sad for a 442.
Winds up looking rather reminiscent of a ’74 AMA Gremlin. Now go ahead and chop and channel it to lower the center of gravity l, fill the front bumper with concrete or lead to keep it somewhere close to the ground and maybe drivable.
Did the guys get up the next day and ask each other ” How much did we drink last night while we were working on that Corolla?”
Much like the early abomination (the 1960 Ventura), just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should.
Nobody in their right mind would ever attempt this modification for any other reason than the fact that they could.
Proof positive , that some folks should not own a Milwaukee SawZall. One too many ZERO’S in the price. Too bad it was shortened . Too bad they didn’t use the 4.0 Lexus V-8 engine with the five speed.
Not yet available. There was probably an F-85 next to it in the junkyard.
Now that Ringling Brothers B & B Circus is gone, does anyone know if Cirque d’ So-lei uses clown cars?
This is Ralph Nader a ghost from the past.
“This is unsafe at any speed.”
Please call 1800 the hook 🪝 . 🤠🤠🤠🤠🤠
Had to Google for info on Willow River, Minnesota. Population is around 400 people. I think that explains this vehicle pretty good.
AKA the “Toyota WidowMaker”.
Yup. One rattle can of Krylon ought to be enough.
This is just plain sad to see,as the prices on stock & “semi-stock
’60’s/’70’s Japanese cars in nice condition have gone through the-
roof.
I had a ’71 Corolla fastback,& it was a good car – not a great
car.
Car and Driver at the time said it cornered flatter going right than left, because engineers in RHD Japan had offset the gas tank and radiator to the left to counterweight the driver, but left them in that place for left hand drive export cars.
Later Corollas, even the 1975-79, were bigger and heavier enough for that not to matter.
Ok, maybe I would get it if it was lowered for autocross/track day duty. But with the stance and tire stagger it says drag race car. Sure is funny looking! Oh I get it it’s an economy “funny car” for the strip! If shortened properly (that’s had to say while looking at it) You would require so much more body bracing that the car would actually weigh more than in standard wheelbase form.
Very interesting! Reminds me of those AFX or Zinger custom cars.
I have to read up on that aluminum Buick engine. Seen other projects use that engine. Not sure just for weight or if dimensionally it’s smaller than other V8s? 200hp is not a ton of HP and you can get that from a Honda 4 cylinder (Maybe not as much torque with the Honda engine?) but the V8 is nice eye candy.
Must be a fun experience driving this car. Yeah wheelie bars would be cool. Wonder if it can pull a wheelie?
Just because you have a torch and a welder doesn’t mean that you should do something like this.
There is notrhing like doing something for fun. I had a 77 HiLux with a 302+30 4 speed top loader, Truck had been wrecked. I torched off all the REALLY bad damage, left the bad (low budget) and had more fun than I should have.. It took about half an hour and a Yuengling to change plugs. Right front suspension on my brother’s 351 Sunbeam had to be dropped for the right rear plug to be changed if I remember. Some of our peers play golf. They spend more in one Saturday than I did in a week. I had to exchange my drivers license for an ID becaue of illness, but if I were well–woo hoo!
Put a solid front axle in and jack up the front end and call it a Gasser.