The Little Corolla with the Big Heart – LS1-Powered AE94
At first glance, you’d never suspect this unassuming 1994 Toyota Corolla hides the thumping chest of a 346ci Chevy V8. But this isn’t just another entry in the #lstheworld hall of fame — it’s a machine built as much with compassion as it is with compression. And yes, it’s rear-wheel drive.
The project was born out of Bumpstop, a mentoring program founded in 2016 by Josh Shelley and run under Fusion Australia. The aim? Teach disadvantaged teenagers life skills by wrenching on cars, learning teamwork, and building confidence. Their first project was a humble Honda CR-V, but then came the paddock-find Corolla — originally destined for V6 motorkhana duty until fate intervened in the shape of a crashed VY Commodore SS.
The swap wasn’t exactly plug-and-play. The Corolla’s front strut towers were 20mm wider than the Commodore’s, forcing some creative surgery. The front rails from a VX Berlina were grafted onto the Toyota’s chassis, allowing a full Commodore sub-frame to bolt up neatly. The firewall was pushed back 200mm to make room for the LS1 and 4L65E auto. Out back, a Commodore IRS slid in with almost no fuss once the factory tank was gone. The end result? Underneath, it’s basically a short-wheelbase VY SS — just 500kg lighter.
Serviceability was a key goal. Driveline, brakes, and suspension are all factory Commodore items, meaning replacements are easy to source. Stopping power comes from VX discs and DBA T2 pads, while Maxpeedingrods coil-overs handle the front and American Hot Rod units take care of the rear. The 235kW LS1 might be stock, but when you factor in the Corolla’s 1086kg weight, the power-to-weight ratio is equivalent to dropping a 460hp mill into a full-sized Commodore.
From the driver’s seat, it’s as wild as it sounds. The 4.10 LSD keeps the rear wheels honest, a Haltech 950 ECU keeps the LS happy, and Pacemaker headers feed into a three-inch side exit that lets everyone know you’re coming. The six-point cage is IHRA-approved for 10.50s, and Josh reckons with the right tweaks, it could get there.
But the real magic isn’t under the bonnet — it’s in the workshop. The Bumpstop program pulls in kids from every walk of life, and the goal isn’t just to make them mechanics. It’s to give them a sense of worth. For some, a highlight of the week might be starting the car or changing a tyre — small victories that carry big meaning when you’ve never been shown how. One of the young builders, Daniel, sums it up best: “They said we couldn’t put a V8 in a Corolla… and look what I did.”
After 12 months and over 800 hours of work, the Corolla hit the dirt for motorkhana duty before stretching its legs on tarmac at Marulan Driver Training Centre. There’s even talk of lining it up against Street Machine’s own “Turbo Taxi” FG Falcon once both cars are track-ready.
It’s loud, it’s quick, and it’s a little bit crazy — but above all, this Corolla is proof that horsepower can build far more than cars. It can build futures.
THANKS
Fusion Building & Maintenance; Penrith Auto Electrical; Primp My Ride; Jax Tyres St Marys; Pedal2 Metal Fabrications; Shelleys Prestige Cleaning; Europlaster Linings; Canterbury Concepts Grabrails; Sinclair Ford; Bond Roll Bars; Peach Tree Car Detailing; Hickeys Metal Fabrications; Christian Auto Sports Club of Australia; Custom Bugs & Busses; Signature Window Tinting & Signs; Haltech for donating the ECU and loom; and the boys, Daniel, Zac and Zeke
