The AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin is an automotive legend; however, there are those who always want more.

Blessed from the factory with 50:50 chassis balance and rear-wheel drive, powerful it was not, as the original 4A-GE only had 130 horsepower in its home country. Outside of Japan, known as the Corolla GT, the rest of the world had just 112hp to play with. Many were happy, but some weren’t satisfied, like Brandon Grandison, the owner of this 1987 example, so he dipped into the car’s extensive aftermarket for a 330 per cent power increase.

“When I bought it four years ago, it was nothing but a raw shell. It had no wheels, no drivetrain and no interior,” Grandison told the Jamaica Observer’s Auto magazine.

The truth was he saw it as a blank canvas on which to paint his vision of the perfect AE86. The aim was big power from the start and Grandison realised he’d need grip, so he went with as wide a wheel and tyre package as he could, resulting in the bulging arches the bodywork now displays. The car runs 15 by eight-inch-wide Revolution rims at the front and 15 by 10 inch at the rears wrapped in 245/40/15 performance tyres.

“I had the wheel arches and the rear spoiler fabricated out of metal and smoothed into the original bodywork. No bolt-on plastic here.”

The engine options were narrowed to the Toyota family, the 3S-GTE or the nigh invincible 2JZ-GTE from the Toyota Supra. The length of the in-line six-cylinder 2J meant too much fabrication and Grandison went with the two-litre four-cylinder 3S-GTE as he believed it would be the better balance for the chassis.

“I took the 3S-GE BEAMS engine block upgraded it with stronger internals, rods and pistons, then bolted on the turbo 3S-GTE head,” he explained.

The next step was adding an aftermarket turbocharger and manifold along with all the ancillaries to run and support it. A Haltech ECU runs the whole show-while custom fuelling, a front mounted intercooler and three-inch exhaust system all assist in keeping the engine from rejecting the 17 pounds of boost pressure being shoved into it. The end result is 370 horsepower to the wheels and a screaming 8500 rpm redline.

“Spools fast, has power all the way to the top.”

All that horsepower makes its way to the fattened rear wheels through a combination of strengthened parts. The clutch disc, pressure plate and flywheel have all been upgraded. Grandison did end up using some Supra in his car as the gearbox from the Mk3 Supra provides drive to a Dana rear end equipped with a limited slip differential. This gives him a wider track at the rear for even more stability under power and the ability to swap gearing as he pleases. Further helping with traction are height adjustable coil-over suspension along with other race bits under the car.

Of course the car had to stop, so large rotors and 4-piston brake calipers are at all four corners.

When he eventually returned back to looks Grandison swapped on the Japanese front and rear pieces on to his American chassis. Inside he retained the stripped out nature of the AE86 when he bought it, just adding back the dashboard, the necessary gauges, a Momo steering wheel, a pair of Recaro seats and lightweight interior panels.

“I’m still not finished yet, but it’s in a pretty good place right now.”