It looks like Bisimoto’s got a new personal project car and this time it’s a Toyota.
Bisimoto’s mostly known for his crazy reliable Honda builds, his work with Hyundai, and his drag racing/ tuning history so this newest project car is a bit of surprise, at least for me. As per Bisimoto and his Instagram post earlier today (Nov. 9,2018) he’s just took delivery of something Super Red, midship, and rad. It’s a 1985 Toyota MR-2.
Check out his Instagram post below!
A quick look on BAR’s smog website reveals that this car’s been driven regularly and hasn’t been sitting around stagnant unlike a lot of “barn find” type posts for imports I come across. It last passed smog in 2014 so presumably it hasn’t been driven since 2016. If Bisimoto wants to drive this car on city streets, it looks like his first order of business is getting this car to pass smog, which should be easy for the “mad tuner scientist.”
I could be wrong but I do remember Bisimoto mentioning the Toyota MR2 in his appearance as a guest on The Smoking Tire podcast as one of the first cars that he looked at when he wanted to build something for the first time. In an interview with PASMAG four years ago Bisimoto does mention the MR2 as a car he’s wanted to build before.
“I loved the look of the MR2 Turbo, but it was out of my range in terms of price as a student,” he recalls. “I loved the look of the Fiero; I wanted that car so badly, but the Pontiac Fiero didn’t have very high marks in terms of reliability, so that wasn’t good.”
If you know anything about Bisimoto it’s that he finally settled on the CR-X as one of his first builds where he made a name for himself running ridiculous times with an NA setup with the “haters” at the time convinced that he was cheating somehow. He wasn’t.
Bisimoto did tag Radwood, a popular 80’s and 90’s themed car show as of late. Radwood does return to Los Angeles later this November on the 30th so perhaps he’s prepping for an appearance at the Petersen where Radwood LA is happening.
I only predict he’ll swap a K-series out back just because he’s very familiar with Honda engines, his forte. The original MR2 made 112 HP and 97 lb-ft and I don’t think that’ll cut it for his build.
Source: Bisimoto
