WWW: The Magnificent Mango

For a few years now I’ve been traveling west for drift events. Whenever my travels bring me to Alberta, I know I’m going to run into Paul Harrison. He’s a permanent fixture at their drift events, whether he’s just watching or helping out. But the best place you can hope to find Paul is behind the wheel of his 1972 Toyota Corolla.

I often wonder if Paul is trolling me because nobody can be as nice and positive as he is. Drifting can obviously be very stressful, but while others are throwing their arms up in frustration, Paul can usually be found throwing his car into the corners and loving life.

I first met Paul years ago when he trailered his Mango out to Saskatchewan for a local drift event. I was actually announcing the event at the time and when I saw Paul pull up with that Toyota, I knew the locals were doomed. He was pretty much the closest thing we had ever seen to a real drifter. And in true drifter fashion, he ran hard at that event and blew his motor. Paul just shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said, “Oh, it’s just the motor. I was worried it was my transmission.” Shortly after, I also learned Paul shares my affinity for Bruce Springsteen, which is usually all I need to know about anybody.

I suppose it would be worthwhile to mention that somewhere in between the “Glory Days” and present day, Paul dropped a rs200 altezza 3sge BEAMS engine in his car. When I originally asked Paul for a build list of his car, I knew it would be difficult. This is no S-chassis; you can’t simply call up your local parts dealer and say I want my ’72 Corolla to be a drift car. You have to get creative. Paul’s answer to my simple question is as follows…

The Mango has a 2000 rs200 Altezza 3sge BEAMS(breakthrough engine advanced management system) with dual vvti. It was then fitted with blacktop 4age itbs and a “home brew” itb adapter manifold. The stacks are t3 velocity with big UNI air filters. A super custom oil pan with wings and baffles, mega ultra custom high rise exhaust manifold and stepped primary’s. The exhaust is a 4-1 measuring 2.5″ and constructed out of stainless steel.

As for the transmission it is a 6 seeped with a 9# chromoly flywheel and a copper six puck sprung clutch. Most of the back end is an Ae86 gts rear, and of course there is a welded Differential. As for the brakes, the rotors come from a 79supra/Celica with GTS callipers. Paul also added a Willwood remote master hydro e-brake.

The front strut housings and brakes are 85 Celica gts with Eibach 500# front coilover springs. Those are matched with SW20 KYB AGX front shocks. An AW11 manual rack, Battle Version #2 rack spacer kit and “extra-mega-super steering arms.” The tension rods are modded Battle Version 86 rods.

Paul also claims that the rear suspension is top secret. However it probably consists of Camaro KYB AGX shocks, upper links from 86gts and leaf springs on the bottom.

The list goes on and on, but some of personal favourites from his build list include the “Ultra happy roll cage by H-eng” and “the deep ‘suede’ steering wheel from a shopping mall in Bangkok.”

Finally, my favorite part of any build: the wheels. Paul’s are currently SSR MKIII measuring 14×8 +0 on each corner of the car. The front fenders and flares are vintage gt2 race parts made by a Calgary legend named Gary Lohues way back in the day. After that, everything becomes even more custom, as you might have imagined.

As you can tell by the pictures, Paul had a run in with the wall before the shoot. Body work is an ongoing process on this car as it sees track action regularly. With a car that was pretty much “Born to Run,” I’m ending this article with a photo of what Paul does best.