Restored, wrecked and rebuilt: Toyota Tercel Wagon rally racer

Is it a Subaru? An Evo? Nope.

The blur flying through the dirt is the unorthodox chassis of a 1985 Toyota Tercel Wagon.

Meet Steven and Lauren Olona, the husband-and-wife duo who emerged second overall and first in class at this year’s Rally Colorado driving their Tercel. Why did this second- and first-place finish mean so much? Let's delve into this couple's journey in rally with their restored, wrecked and rebuilt Tercel.

Steven’s interest in modern motorcycles and Lauren’s passion for vintage bikes led to a strong connection point when they met. For this duo, their love for cars and each other blossomed in Columbus, Ohio. This is also where Stevens’ rally journey began.

When they met, Steven worked at Honda and the company had programs, providing employees with the chance to join their racing teams at no extra cost. Steven took advantage of this to the fullest. Although he first joined the Pikes Peak team, Steven soon moved to the rally division, where he served as co-driver four times.

[The most startling part of Pikes Peak? The drive down]

Lauren, on the other hand, had never really thought about racing herself. Instead, the culture and community that surrounded racing fascinated her.

A few years after meeting, Steven and Lauren began the move to Colorado where Lauren began her new job as a design researcher for Ford. For Steven, the move meant leaving Honda and becoming temporally unemployed. With newfound time on his hands, Steven decided to begin building their rally car.

When asked why the Toyota, Steven says, “Well I’m honestly a Toyota fanboy and I owned a Tercel wagon in the past, so I already had a plan in mind.” Only 900 bucks later, Lauren and Steven had the Tercel and were ready to begin their journey.

Photograph Courtesy Steven and Laura Olona

From a cramped apartment garage to their first home with a decent-sized shop, the pair put in the work, with cost and durability being at the forefront of their minds. In just 10 months, the Tercel had a new engine, modified suspension, steering and so much more. What event did they tackle first? None other than their new home race, an ARA Super Regional, Rally Colorado.

During their debut race in the Toyota, Lauren and Steven clinched a third-place spot in the O2WD class and finished seventh overall. They continued their success at the 2020 Show-Me Rally and the 2021 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. Their forward progress came to a halt at Rally Colorado 2021.

Photograph Courtesy Steven and Laura Olona

During the initial stage of day two, Lauren and Steven had secured second overall after a productive day one. However, tragedy struck during the Earl's Revenge stage. This segment of Rally Colorado is known for tripping up drivers and has seen many accidents. The stage starts fast and relatively open but quickly becomes tight and twisty.

 “I mistakenly called a left 3, maybe left 2, to a left 4. This meant we had waaaaay too much speed going into this blind corner and went off wide into a large ravine, impacting on the front passenger corner and rolling over once,” Steven recalls.  “Luckily this just happened to be the exact same corner that the famous Fiesta had gone off as well, so it's now a common spot for photographers to hang out, so we had plenty of help.”

Photograph Courtesy Steven and Laura Olona

Thankfully Lauren and Steven were okay, and they were able to limp back to the pits. But the Tercel sustained extensive damage. A new roof skin, hood, bumper, headlights and front fenders were just a few of the repairs the Tercel needed.

“The frame was somehow totally fine up front, likely thanks to the overbuilt lower core support crossmember,” says Steven. “Of course, I had to replace that rear axle shaft and ended up redoing the front suspension rather than replace the bent control arm, this was when it got the BMW Z3 steering rack swap.” 

After a year and a half of reconstruction, the Toyota staged a comeback in 2023 during the Lake Superior Performance Rally. However, certain aspects of the rebuild fell short of expectations, leading to a DNF. Steven then took the Tercel back to the drawing board where it stayed under construction. until this past second overall and first in class win at Rally Colorado.

Photography Credit: Rupert Berrington

Even though their 2025 plans aren’t set, Lauren shared, “We try to run at least one a year, sometimes two if we can swing it. We always want to support Rally Colorado since it's our home event, either racing or volunteering. And then our short list for if we opt to go out of state for ’25 – we’ve got our eyes on either Olympus or Ojibwe.”

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