There are levels of car enthusiasm over in Europe that we’ll never come close to here in the United States. What do you mean they’re building 400-horsepower turbocharged fire-breathers that rev to 10,000 rpm out of the 1SZ-FE engine that came in the anemic Toyota Yaris? The tiny little hatchback that had almost no performance driving aspirations at all? It feels absolutely unhinged for that little engine to be pushing around a hillclimb car like this, and I guess it is unhinged. Just watch this video and you’ll see just how bonkers it is. There’s something great about a hillclimb car with almost no aero downforce. It could go way faster with bigger wings and all-wheel drive, but this guy’s in it for the love of the game.
According to the folks at HillClimb Monsters, this is a Finnish build, coming from Antti Holtinkoski. Not only is this wild Yaris engine shoved in an old Corolla hatchback, but apparently it powers the rear wheels now. Sure, why not? When you have a giant turbocharger and 400 ponies to play with, you can power whatever wheel you want and it’ll still be incredibly quick. Never mind the fact that this Corolla hatchback weighs just 1873 pounds. Phew, that’s just a little rocket ship, man!
In this video, Holtinkoski took the Corolla to an impressive eighth position overall in the famed Norges Raeste Bakkelop hillclimb up in northern Norway. The 2.3-mile course runs through 11 corners and a bridge up nearly one thousand feet of elevation change, making it one of the most exciting events in Europe these days. The event has become a full week celebration of speed and bravery, now incorporating drag racing and rallycross, but the hillclimb is still the main attraction. Is there anything even close to this in America? I think not.
Corolla is king
This video is amazing, as it shows not only the incredible speed of the car from the perspective of the fans, but the manic and hand-flinging control of Antti inside the car as well for a full ride along on the short hillclimb course. There’s a lot to going fast on this course with a light car and a big turbocharger, and this car proves that. It isn’t exactly a point-and-shoot affair, there are constant corrections needed to keep this tail-happy car pointed up the mountain.
We have to talk more about this motor, because who ever heard of making 400 horsepower from a one-liter engine? Especially the 1SZ-FE. Toyota worked with Daihatsu to make that little China-built three-cylinder engine as efficient as possible, and it only produced about 70 horsepower when it was new. According to this post over on Engine Swap Depot, this wild engine is mated to a Motor Design Sweden MD5 sequential transmission using a custom bellhousing, and the rear differential is cribbed from an old Volvo 760. They really do stuff different in that part of the world, huh?
Holtinkoski apparently took over nine months to build this wild machine, after having already started with a stout Corolla hatch rally car chassis. He gave the car a brand new body and installed a completely custom floorpan to accommodate the rear-drive conversion. It’s a really neat build, and the level of craftsmanship on display here is incredible. The full nine-month build is distilled into a short seven-minute video without any words, but it’s well worth watching.
I look forward to seeing more video of this car’s endeavors in the future as Europe kicks off the 2026 season. I hope they’re all sideways and in a flourish of tire smoke.
