Matt Drongo Sevens. Toyota Starlet SR

Year and model

1998 Toyota Starlet SR

How long have you owned the car?

Owned for over 13 years now

What nickname have you given it, if any?

To be honest never really gave her a nickname

What made you decide to buy this particular car?

Always wanted one from when I passed my test but insurance was abit too high when I was 17 but when this came up for sale a couple years later I couldn’t say no

What work have you done since you owned it? Repairs,modifications, upgrades etc?

Too much 😂
When I first brought it it needed work so got it up to a good standard and ended up doing a full glanza rep with TE37 rep wheels in white

but about 6 years ago it got taken off the road as she was starting to show her age and I wanted to get her back up to how she should be

Over the couple years it was off the road it underwent a full rebuild
All the rust got cut out and replaced thanks to hunters welding and fabrication

The engine also underwent a full rebuild

As the car was being rebuilt I wanted to make it into a fun track inspired car that I can still use daily

So for the chassis ended going for miester r coilovers and replaced all the bushes with polybushes
Did have polybush engine mounts for a while but they was too harsh for a daily driver
All the brakes have been fully rebuilt with braided hoses too

As for the inside ended up going for OMP bucket seats and harnesses and fully carpeted the inside with a Sparco steering wheel finished in candy red

With the exterior as I was learning painting best place to start is with my own car
It has the optional extra front lip that came on the SR models, Glanza sideskirts and back bumper with optional extra rear lip. Optional extra mid spoiler and Livesport rear spoiler

And it has a lot of candy red haha the wheels and engine are both finished in candy red aswell as a few of the interior parts

Any particular challenges when it came to repairs, modifications , upgrades?

The biggest challenge was how much I underestimated the amount of work the rebuild would be! Stripping it was easy but when it started going back together took a-lot longer and a-lot more work then I thought it would

Tell us about a memorable occasion with the car (keep it clean haha)

One of the best days I’ve had in the car was when I first got it back on the road I entered into the Toyota pomeroy trophy at silverstone

Was a brilliant day with a big range of different Toyota from standard to highly modified! Was a really fun day first time I ever taken part in a event like that and managed to come 17th out of 62 cars

What would be your idea of the perfect drive out in the car. (A famous road somewhere etc?)

I’d love to do the NC500 at some point in the starlet! Would be a epic road trip!

What would be your dream retro Toyota?

I’d love a 70s celica!

Anything else you would like to add to the story?

Just want a say a massive thanks for choosing to feature my car! It’s nice to see people appreciate all the work that has gone into it