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A humble compact hatchback almost devoid of styling, the Toyota Starlet might be one of the most misleadingly named cars in history. But it’s also the perfect platform for a hill climb car, as Finnish outfit VHTRacing Engineering has shown with this second-generation P60 Starlet.
Mikko Kataja and his wife Kati have been running this car in hill climbs around Europe for years, and even made it to Pikes Peak and Mt. Washington. It used to have a modified Toyota 4A-GE—the 1.6-liter inline-four used in the AW11 MR2 and multiple generations of Corolla and Celica throughout the 1980s and 1990s—but in 2023 the Katajas switched to a custom 2.7-liter V8 based on a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle engine, built by Radical Precision Engineering.
VHTRacing Engineering via Facebook
First spotted by Engine Swap Depot, the V8 retains the 81-millimeter bore and 65-mm stroke as the inline-four used in the second-generation Hayabusa, but doubles up on cylinder banks and sports a flat-plane crankshaft. The heads are from Hayabusa engines as well, but ported. However, the pistons are from Cosworth and the camshafts are VHT’s own design, meant to maximize power. Instead of the 11,000-rpm redline of the modified 4A-GE, the V8 revs to “only” 10,000 rpm. But while the four-cylinder engine made about 260 horsepower, the V8 was built to produce 150 hp per liter, or 405 hp (VHT keeps the exact output a secret).
The Starlet with the stellar engine was out of action until recently. Mikko crashed it in 2024, but took that as an opportunity to make changes. The hatch got new carbon fiber bodywork from Finland’s Haidea, and the suspension was changed to lower the ride height and widen the track. In its first run since rebuilding, Mikko drove the Starlet to first in class and third overall at the Wolsfeld Hill Climb in Wolsfelder, Bergrennen, Germany. That’s a great result for a freshly-rebuilt car with no real testing, and Mikko believes there’s plenty of potential once the car is fully dialed in.
Rebuilt V8 Starlet First Race Post-Rebuild – Wolsfeld Hillclimb
Both car and driver certainly look impressive in the in-car video posted to the VHTRacing YouTube channel. Definitely watch that with the sound up.
A build like this shows what’s possible with the early rear-wheel drive Starlets (Toyota switched to front-wheel drive with the third-generation P70 in 1984), even if these cars have always had a somewhat lower profile in the U.S. compared to other Toyotas due to much fewer sales. There were rumors a couple of years ago that the Starlet name might make a comeback on a hot hatch, but the GR Yaris pretty much fills that niche in the markets where said name would be recognizable.
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Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
