OLD-SCHOOL STREETERS THAT ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE QUARTER-MILE DON’T GET ANY
TOUGHER THAN BEN MANAGH’S HOME-BUILT 1.5JZ-POWERED KE36 WAGONT
here are two types of people in this world: those who
look at cars as nothing more than a means of transport,
and the rest of us, who are down at the local testing
office banging on the door the second that we’re old
enough to hold a licence. That little piece of plastic
means more than just being able to sit in the driver’s seat without
your parents telling you to piss off; it’s the physical embodiment
of unlimited freedom. Once you have one in your wallet and a car
of your own, there is no place you can’t get to, at any time you feel
like going there. Those cars become a critical instrument of your
social life; friends are made through the late-night car-park hangs
and ill-planned roadies to god-knows-where just because you
can, and the longer you hold on to them, the greater the chance
you’ll find yourself wanting to use them for more than just street
menacing!
For Rotorua local Ben Managh, this 1979 Toyota Corolla
(KE36), which he bought at the tender age of 16, was his ticket to
that unrestricted freedom.