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Sashen’s 1979 Toyota Corolla turbo giving the ‘big dawgs’ a run for their money

Sashen Lingham and the Toyota Corolla

The late 1970’s and early 80’s Toyota Corolla is a vehicle that is up there among South African greats like the BMW Gusheshe or the Opel Superboss, with a cult-like following and lure. 

Not for nothing though, this rear-wheel drive car is versatile and is used domestically across the spinning, drag racing and stance scenes. 

Sashen Lingham, from Kimberly, Northern Cape, has built up his blue 79’ Corolla to compete in the drag racing scene. It’s done that and more. 

Lingham, 35, bought the box shape ‘rolla in 2012 and at the time it had the original 1.3L motor in it with 46,000km on the clock. Regardless of how clean the car may have been, Lingham had other plans for it. 

The Corolla on the dance floor at round 2 of SA Drag Nationals

Now running a personal best of 10 seconds flat @215km/h down the quarter mile, the Toyota ‘boxie’ is far from what it used to be when it left the factory floor in 1979.

The Corolla is powered by a Mazda 2 litre 16 valve motor boosted by a GT35 Pulsar at 1.8 bar boost and makes 430 kilowatts on the wheels, all while being a full street trim vehicle.

Sashen’s Corolla going up against a BMW M5 at Round 2 of SA Drag Nationals

“I bought the original motor from a friend of mine in 2008. Most of that motor is still in use up until today,” Lingham explained. 

At the bottom end of the Mazda motor, Sashen’s fitted forged rods and Wiseco pistons. The head has been flowed while Manny from Manny’s Trix built a set of custom cut cams to better regulate the intake and exhaust system. 

A turbo exhaust manifold was built by Tom from TNT Performance, while 2200cc Siemens Deka injectors deliver a healthy glug of fuel to the combustion chamber. 

The plus 400kw are delivered to the rear wheels by an automatic Toyota gearbox while the back end houses a M75 slip differential with a single spool. 

On race days, it is held down at the rear end by a set of 26 inch racing slicks while a 3-piece split Equip Rezax wheels in 17 inches keep the front end in a show car status. A set of BMW E36 brakes are out front. 

The powder blue exterior was done by Shauna from Kimberly in 2016 while Tom from TNT fitted the roll cage in for added safety. 

The Japanese symphony is brought together by an Injepro T5000 engine management system which was done by Paul Dos Santos, while Manny Marinho tunes, maintains and keeps it in prime condition. 

“My car is maintained and tuned by the Mazda legend Manny Marinho from Manny’s Trix in Joburg. He has one of the fastest 323’s that ran a 9.2 second on the 400m as a full street car. 

“He has been tuning my car ever since and has been the brains behind its performance thus far. 

“My personal best was done at Dezzi Raceway at the Round 2 of the drag nationals. It was a 10.0 second @215km/h on a 1.8 bar boost. I hope to get it into the 9’s soon as a full street trim car,” Lingam said. 

As racers prepare for the third round of SA Drag Nationals at Aldo Scribante Race Track in the Eastern Cape on September 7, Lingham and fellow racer Nishal Singh, are tied at the top of Group F with 5 points. 

Jehran Naidoo/Auto Rush

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