The oldest drag racer from Europe has an extremely modified 1972 Toyota Corolla that his son will be racing against a 700-hp Seat Cordoba over the quarter-mile. Let’s unpack.
This little miracle belongs to Europe’s oldest drag racer (82), claims his son, Marc. Before taking drag racing seriously, Marc was a professional drift racer, securing 2nd place in the 2016 British Drift Championship, using an old Toyota model. The kicker is that his father is still drag-racing the little Japanese beast with no issues. Marc even admitted his dad is the better driver.
The American-built 5.6-liter naturally aspirated V8 engine outputs 570 horsepower, and for reliability and safety reasons, the ’72 Corolla doesn’t use any help from Nitrous oxide (N2O). It has a 2-speed automatic gearbox that sends that power only to the rear wheels. The little car doesn’t run short on features, but maybe the most impressive thing is that Marc built it himself during the Covid period. The fastest time it pulled over the quarter mile was 9.69 seconds at 136 miles per hour or 219 kilometers per hour.
Its competitor is an extremely modified 2003 Seat Cordoba. This nameplate was first introduced way back in 1993 as a three-box sedan version of the Seat Ibiza. The 2003 model was part of the second-generation Cordoba built under Volkswagen ownership on the Polo’s A04 (PQ24) platform. The Cordoba ceased to exist in the UK around 2006, with sales dying off in the rest of Europe in 2009, one year after the production line ended.
The Spanish Volkswagen from this race is far removed from its roots, boasting a 1.9-liter straight-four turbocharged Diesel engine that puts out 500 horsepower. Its 6-speed manual transmission system sends all that power to the front wheels. With nitrous, it can reach up to 700 horsepower. This thing looks as evil as they come. The face has no headlights and it looks like the entire front part melted in a typical comic book villain origin story and turned into a mask.
The best time the Cordoba managed to pull in the past was 9.4 seconds at 154 miles per hour or 248 kph. It weighs 2,156 lbs. or 978 kilograms, meaning it’s even lighter than the 1972 Corolla. This race should be exciting, to say the least. Luckily, we get three of them.
Now that we know our competitors, it’s time to see how they performed down the 1/4-mile Santa Pod Raceway drag strip from Podington, Bedfordshire, England. Here’s a fun fact about this strip: it was built on an old World War II Royal Air Force airbase. It’s probably why Jamie from “Officially Gassed – OG” was moderating this Hoonigan event.
Photo: Hoonigan
The Toyota won during the first race, but not for the usual reasons. Something went very wrong with the Seat Cordoba, and the driver had to stop after a few seconds. The nitrous backfired, but after a quick fix, it was back to the starting line. The ’72 Toyota won again, for real this time, in 9.82 seconds at 133.27 mph or 214 kilometers per hour. The Seat Cordoba did it in 10.37 seconds at 123.54 mph or 199 kph. After a quick tire warmup, they were on for one last showdown.
After all was said and done, the Toyota secured its final victory in 9.84 seconds at 133 mph (214 kph), while the Spanish menace crossed the finish line in 10.03 seconds, going at 145.33 mph or 234 kilometers per hour. The race was insanely entertaining, only surpassed by the history or lore of the cars and their owners. However, one fact that should be standardized with drag racing modified vehicles is missing: the cost of the modifications.
While being the fastest on the drag strip surely makes for great bragging rights, losing by just one-tenth of a second while costing three times less is also something to write home about. We’ve seen this in previous events, where although the mightier car won, it cost $50k-150k more, which tips the conversation needle in the opposite direction.