hatchback 4wd conversion

[Kumppari]

I came across someting interesting, a tercel hatcback converted to use 4wd patrs from the wagon.
http://www.autosuunnistus.net/kuva-arki ... /index.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26513855@N00/?saved=1

I also found this, wich looks like wagon but without the "wagon" part. Did it come this way from factory, or have somebody reversed it into a wall?

[ARCHINSTL]

Wow - was that a LOT of work - must have been a labor of love - or done on a bet... Almost looks like they used struts in the back? Or maybe just my eyes...

The 3/4 T2WD looks like someone just did some chopping - maybe the original rear end was crunched and he made the best out of a bad situation? Noticed it has rear shoulder belts as well.
Or maybe - this is the Darwinian "Missing Link," and our Wagons are the result of evolution ? ? ?
Tom M.

[4wdchico]

Wow - was that a LOT of work - must have been a labor of love - or done on a bet... Almost looks like the used struts in the back? Or maybe just my eyes...

The 3/4 T2WD looks like someone just did some chopping - maybe the original rear end was crunched and he made the best out of a bad situation? Noticed it has rear shoulder belts as well.
Or maybe - this is the Darwinian "Missing Link," and our Wagons are the result of evolution ? ? ?
Tom M.

That is the somewhat rare 4 door hatchback Tercel. I have seen a few out here on the left coast.

[Petros]

This looks like a "chopped" wagon. It appears it has the wagon type tail lights running up along side the hatch and it has the taller roof line as compared with the std 2wd hatchback. And look! The fuel filler is on the wrong side. looks like Euro style bumpers too. how do you know this is a 4wd?

I do not know why they would not sell a model like that in the US, the 4wd wagon was remarkably popular.

[4wdchico]

The terc 4 door hatchback is FWD not 4wd & has the same IRS setup that the 2 door hatchback version has. Almost bought one for parts a while back so I looked it over and under pretty well.

[terceldude]

the second link isn't new to me... I've seen it b4! however, the first, possibly not... But, I don't think I will mess around my Terc like that, lol!

[Kumppari]

Wow - was that a LOT of work - must have been a labor of love - or done on a bet... Almost looks like they used struts in the back? Or maybe just my eyes...

The 3/4 T2WD looks like someone just did some chopping - maybe the original rear end was crunched and he made the best out of a bad situation? Noticed it has rear shoulder belts as well.
Or maybe - this is the Darwinian "Missing Link," and our Wagons are the result of evolution ? ? ?
Tom M.

Apparently they are custom made one off struts, as originals tend to break under heavy use? Atleast that what it says.
Are the rear shoulder belts not standard on all tercels?

I did some more digging and found two more pics:

Looks like this one has its fuel filler on the "normal" side. Could this mean that it could be 4wd? Wikipedia doesent mention anything about this.
Odd indeed.

[terceldude]

Those last two pics are F'in sweet! Where did you find them? What's the link?

[ARCHINSTL]

Looks like this one has its fuel filler on the "normal" side. Could this mean that it could be 4wd? Wikipedia doesent mention anything about this. Odd indeed.

I noticed the 2WD fuel door location on the first pix you posted and noted same (3/4 T2WD).
After 4wdchico's comment, I, too, read the Wikipedia article (several, actually) and found a single reference to Gen 2 being available as a four-door sedan (as well as the five-door hatch) - but that was it. Out of curiosity, I Googled "four-door Tercel" and read through xx pages trying to find a reference or photo, and found nothing. None of any of the articles mentioned a sedan 4WD, but we're pretty sure they existed from anecdotal comment posted here long ago.

It's not in my '86 USA brochure, nor in the '85 or '86 FSMs. I no longer have the '83 USA brochure, so do not know if it was brought to the USA at that time only. Anyone have an '83 brochure?
I know I've never seen one in the Midwest - I recall reading years ago that certain models of Japanese cars were only brought in to certain areas of the US for marketing reasons (a "West Coast" cars would not sell in the East Coast or Midwest marketing concept). I know that that was a fact with certain colors being only available to certain geographic areas.

Kinda looks like a shrunken, four-door, American Motors Gremlin from the '70s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin

The rear shoulder belts did not make it in any of the Gen 2 cars brought into the USA or Canada - they did in Australia/ New Zealand, and apparently at least parts of Europe. Dunno about the rest of the world.
Tom M.
P.S. Off-topic - but your avatar here is about the coolest in the Club! Is it a personal logo, or from a sports team or...?

[brianp]

I wonder if it is almost a variant of the Corolla Hatchback:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Corolla_Seca

Or a Toyota Starlet:
http://www.oneshift.com/pdb/cdr.php?pid=860

[ARCHINSTL]

It looks to me to be definitely a variant of the 2/4WD Wagons only and not another Toy car variant.
Roof, pillars, body sides, windshield angle, hatch&lights - even the fuel filler door itself.
Reminds me of looking at distant photos of Sasquatch...you'd think that some more info would exist somewhere!
Tom M.

[Kumppari]

Those last two pics are F'in sweet! Where did you find them? What's the link?

All of the pictures are from here.

The rear shoulder belts did not make it in any of the Gen 2 cars brought into the USA or Canada - they did in Australia/ New Zealand, and apparently at least parts of Europe. Dunno about the rest of the world.
Tom M.
P.S. Off-topic - but your avatar here is about the coolest in the Club! Is it a personal logo, or from a sports team or...?

I have shouder belts on mine, exept in the rear middle seat. In fact i cant remeber any european or japanese car not having them. But then again, I was still pooping my pants when the wagon came to be...

About my avatar: Kumppari is short from Kumisaapas, wich means rubber boot (or wellington boot if you live in England). I have been using the same nick and avatar for some time now in different forums, so I guess you could call it a personal logo of sorts. Who knows, maybe i´ll get rich and famous sometime and use it as a racing team logo

[Kumppari]

I did some digginging on local toyota forums, but all I found was a passing note about someone thinking of getting a sedan 4wd tercel from Germany. There was also a mention about them being manufactured originally for American market. If this is true I would think that one of you would have run into them.

Not a completly lost effort tough, as I found out that propshaft center support bearing from mercedes benz w123 chassis should fit to tercel, only modification being to make mounting holes bigger. And front springs from Saab 900 are direct fit to tercel rear, and they are stiffer than the originals so they will most likely raise the rear somewhat. Putting them to front requires modifications to spring or top mount. Unfortunately not any info for front drive shaft donors tough.

[peter_tuning]

aaaa

[Baas 009]

I had to reply this old post, when I just somehow got in to it when googling around. I also once had one AL25 but sold it to another owner for spare parts after major engine failure.
I still have the successor, a 4wd Corolla Sportswagon.

All of these somehow converted Tercels are 4WD, and also home made in Finland, as you can see from the link to photo page.

Those which seem like chopped Wagons, are just chopped wagons. Also there is some pieces of converted 3/5 door hatchbacks which have 4 wheel drive. And also, there is some AL-11 models which are converted to 4wd. In all cases, the 4wd power line is from AL-25.

Kumppari didn't mention why these odd creatures are made.

All of these cars have been built for one special purpose. It's Finnish Car sport called Car Orienteering, or Autosuunnistus in Finnish. It's far cousin of road rally in britain.

Routes in these events are almost always very tricky, twisty and narrow. That's why the car has to be as short as possible. Also the trails are somehow bumpy and often muddy, sot the 4wd is preferred. I have seen one 4wd converted hatchback Tercel which has been shortened for about 40cm, and equipped with 4A-GE. In these events, the route has been drawn to map, and co-driver reads from map where to go, and there they will go. In place X in the route, there is a pair of signs witch have number, and that you must see and mark up, or you get penalty points. Also you have to keep in schedule, or you got penalty from too slow or fast driving. Who has least amount of penalty points in finish, wins.

Most popular car in these events has been Subaru Justy, but there has also been quite many Tercels. Nowadays both are disappearing because of rust, age and lack of spare parts.

Here's nice video what this sport is, I think there is one converted AL-20 tercel also. Unfortunately the in-car sections are in finnish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUK7QgjQK8

And also, this is what it usually is at wintertime. This video is shot from our corolla, I'm sitting in co-driver seat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XSMU0Zf0lg

-Baas