'Rolla Ball'

MICHAEL ELLARD'S BLACKTOP BEAMS-POWERED KE36 COROLLA WOWED 'EM ON DEBUT AT MOTOREX

-  JACK HOULIHAN

IMAGE Conversions bossman Michael Ellard never really planned for his KE36 Corolla to be a MotorEx hero, but the boosted BEAMS-powered beasty snapped plenty of necks at the Melbourne event earlier this year.

The project began in earnest about six years ago, shortly after Michael pulled the covers off his 'Severed Ruby' Rodeo (SM, May '16). The ute was a resounding success, but when Michael and wife Lani's family began to grow, the two-seater became less than practical. "I had a little Toyota motor I'd built years ago and it was just sitting there, so I'd always wanted to get another Corolla," Michael recounts.

So began the hunt for a more family-friendly weekender, Michael finding this neat one-owner panel van six months later in Menai, NSW. "It belonged to an old couple; it was the husband's car and he'd passed away," he says. "The guy had it from new. He'd used it to take surfboards to the lifesavers at Menai Beach, and it had a big wooden roof box, so the roof was all protected. They didn't want to sell it to anyone who'd destroy it!"

Michael stayed true to their wishes for a while, driving the van in stock form for two years before getting stuck into the build. Though the 20V Toyota 1.6-litre in his shed was the initial choice for a swap, plans changed when he decided on a six-speed manual gearbox.

Michael snapped up a 1999 Toyota Altezza front cut with a low-kilometre 'blacktop' 3S-GE and J160 six-cogger in place. Much to Michael's glee, the 2.0-litre four also wore a turbo kit. The mill now runs an Aeroflow T28 snail, with engine management handled by a Link G4X ECU. On E85, the 1100kg car makes about 350hp at the tyres - heaps of grunt for a lightweight, manually shifted family driver! "After driving it for a bit, we're probably going to pull it down and do a full build on the motor," Michael says.