The result of a period of economic prosperity and post war optimism. Having started in the early 80s by most accounts and continuing on until the turn of the millennium. While brief, this period of time brought the world many of the greatest displays of 20th century engineering, and was responsible for inspiring generations of car enthusiasts the world over.
When the Scion FRS was first introduced to the Canadian market I was in the 6th grade. I remember sitting at home watching cartoons when the commercial aired, it was a video of the car (in red of course) drifting around what appeared to be an airport runway. It stole my heart in an instant.
As I got older and started reading more about cars I came to learn about how light the car was, I learned the importance of dedicated sports car platforms, chassis rigidity, and low centres of gravity. In my opinion this is one of the best new cars on sale today at any price point, and I’m certain that all the same journalists that are crying for more power are going to be the same ones praising it once it’s production ends.
Toyota 86 (Kouki)
Subaru BRZ (Zenki)
Honda Prelude (BB5)
Most of you would be inclined to describe this as a drift-missile, and while you wouldn’t be entirely wrong; I’m here to tell you why there’s more to it than that. Taking a quick glance at the exterior would show that it’s undoubtedly quite mangled, however look a little closer; plexi-glass windows (where they’ve been retained), aftermarket control-arms with ball-joints instead of rubber bushings, dual-callipers in the rear, gusset plates on the welded roll cage.
This isn’t just another missile.
The sticker by the steering wheel translates from roughly to “light weight is easy to maneuver”
Looking at the interior it’s obvious there’s more care than a run of the mill missile. Yes, it’s absolutely gutted to the greatest extent possible, however there’s a custom fabricated aluminum dash and switch panel alongside the aforementioned welded roll cage. However what really sets this car apart from most 240s is what sits under the hood.
It’s a stock KA24DE.
Alright, not STOCK stock, it’s got an aftermarket intake as well as a custom (VERY loud and VERY obnoxious) open header exhaust, but if we’re being honest with ourselves it’s probably still making less power than it did as stock in 1992. Inspite of the drivetrain, I love this car.... no i take that back, I love this car BECAUSE of the drivetrain. With even pretty standard SR swaps going for as much as $5,000 in my area, that’s no joke. The fact that the owner chose to spend that money on completely updating his suspension rather than JDM engine clout makes it infinitely more special than any other 240 I saw that day. He built something more inline with a miata or an 86 than anything I’ve seen come out of the s-chassis community. There’s a focus on weight reduction and it’s placement in the vehicle, suspension tuning and chassis development being coupled with a linear and responsive (albeit low powered) naturally aspirated engine as opposed to bigger turbos and more boost.