Would love it, if it had a proper motor
there is a reason the imported examples are so cheap, stateside
Yes, cars like the McLaren F1 and the Enzo Ferrari are famous mainly for their performance, but they have another feature that sets them apart from the rest: butterfly doors that open up into the heavens instead of out into the car next to you like a peasant's.
What if you want the rad feeling of opening the door to a supercar but don't have supercar money lying around? Toyota had you covered, but only if you lived in Japan.
Called the Sera, the two-door coupe was based on the AXV-II concept and mechanically related to the fourth-generation Starlet (it's said that the floorplan, suspension, steering and brakes were similar). That meant a 1.5-liter Toyota 5E four-cylinder engine lived under the hood, capable of sending a little over 100 horsepower to the front wheels through a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic.
So maybe the Sera wasn't a blistering sports coupe, but it did have the potential to look pretty cool thanks to its butterfly doors. It's also worth noting that less than 16,000 examples of the Sera were built between 1990 and 1995.
Even though the Sera was only sold in Japan, the fact that it's now 25 years old means it's finally legal to import into the United States. In fact, there are a few outfits that currently have examples for sale stateside if you look hard enough.
Do obtainable butterfly doors from the factory make the Sera worth getting into the country, or are there other JDM cars more worthy of cutting through the red tape for?
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Would love it, if it had a proper motor
there is a reason the imported examples are so cheap, stateside
mr2s2000elise said:Would love it, if it had a proper motor
there is a reason the imported examples are so cheap, stateside
Its a toyota tercel drivetrain.
Mighty Car Mods just picked up a Sera as a project car, I watched the video over lunch!
I've seen one in the real. Blew the owners mind that I knew what it was. Totally cool styling. Would have decimated all if it had a RWD layout.
Looks similar to a chevrolet tigra
Saw one of them in Westminster, Md. last year. Had to look it up to find out what it was. Cool car,I want one.
This is my friends car. As the area small Toyota "specialist" Im the care taker for it. Last year I rebuilt the entire cooling system (previous owner did some goofy stuff which also led to a blown heater core), coilovers, rebuilt the axles, fixed alot of little things.
This year I did the heater core and a auto to 5speed manual conversion. The manual really makes these cars fun. Running that lovely 5efhe up to 7800 is insane for me especially as Im used to my low revving 5e DIS engines.
I dont know if this is crazy but that's one of the only $3000 cars i'd consider paying the $4000 import tax for. Never met a small Toyota i didnt like, and this one is just.. real close to the top.
DjGreggieP said:Mighty Car Mods just picked up a Sera as a project car, I watched the video over lunch!
Watched this the other night and have been thinking about it ever since. This is a really cool little car. Even with FWD I bet it can be made in to somthing that scoots. The one on MCM has a motor swap so it should be quick.
In reply to malibuguy :
What other engines can be bolted to it? I'm pretty sure it's either the 4A-GE or the 3S-GE shares the same bolt pattern.
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