Offered mainly in Japan from 1990-1995, the Starlet GT has been overshadowed by other more powerful and interesting cars offered by Toyota at that time such as the MR-2 and the Supra. However, 30 years later, when values of those cars have started to skyrocket, cars such as the Starlet GT are finally getting the limelight they have always deserved. Here, we have Emon Shah’s Starlet GT Turbo for this feature of Turbine.
“I initially got the car back in 2014,” said Emon during an interview with Team Turbine, “the car was in pretty decent condition and only needed few minor touches and a paint job”
However, Emon would have been content with just keeping the car in running condition. Emon seeked perfection. However, it was rather easy to be said than done. In fact, it was the most “challenging bit” as per Emon’s words.
To get it back to a near factory condition, Emon had to import a completely knocked(ckd) down unit from Japan. That was done when Emon’s father went to Japan and purchased a fresh unit of Starlet GT and imported it from Japan as a ckd unit. Almost everything has been borrowed from the donor car such as body parts, the whole suspension setup, the wheels, interior and also everything under the hood.
The final result is the car you’re seeing here today. However, it wasn’t this flashy and such a complete head turner a year ago in terms of the visuals. Initially, after getting the internal parts ready, Emon painted the Starlet in a dark shade of blue along with purple accents while painting the rims in bronze.
That is how the car stayed for many years until 2020. That is when the car got repainted again in the vibrant shade of yellow with the hood and the rims painted black as can be seen today.
“There are already a handful of Starlet GTs in the country painted in blue. I wanted mine to be unique.” Emon exclaimed, “This is why last year I got the car repainted to this shade of liquid yellow you’re seeing today!”
It isn’t just the exterior which received all the attention from Emon. In fact, when it comes to modifications, Emon’s Starlet GT is far off from being stock. When it comes to performance mods, this EP82 is equipped with HKS Hi Power exhaust system, HKS turbo timer, Sard blow off valve, Japspeed decat to name a few. Beside this, for handling, Emon installed Ultra Racing strut bars, BC Racing coilovers and a set of genuine RPF1 rims. Other than that, Emon’s Starlet also has an aftermarket MOMO gear knob, Greddy boost gauge, carbon fiber side mirrors, Livesport body kits and its seats replaced from Toyota Celica.
Despite the plethora of modifications Emon has done to the car, he still daily drives it. According to Emon, this car is the perfect daily driver for him. Besides, this is a car which is both loved by him and his family and he has no plans of selling this car any time soon.
The Starlet GT Turbo is an amazing car and only recently it has been getting popular among the petrolheads worldwide.
There are many beautiful examples of Starlet GTs in Bangladesh but I highly doubt one can find another original Starlet GT Turbo that’s as eye-catching and neat as this bumblebee themed one!
