Page 64 - Fast Car (March 2020)

HOT RIDE

GOLD

AGAINST

THE SOUL

Having seen his friends triumph at
SEMA, Richard Gutierrez wanted in on
the action. The resulting BEAMS-engine
AE86 is a solid-gold winner – although
his deeply personal project was never
just about scooping trophies. No, this
flawless show-stopper’s soul yearns
for the track…

Words Daniel Bevis Photography Larry Chen

The old saying goes that you should dress for the
job you want, rather than the one you have. This is a
notion that’s really captured people’s imagination over
the generations: Roxette were telling us to get dressed
for success back in 1988, S Club 7 ensured their place in
posterity by suggesting we reach for the stars, it’s a relatable
and practical solution to the inevitable conceptual ennui we
ind ourselves trudging through in the day-to-day. Better
things are on the horizon, you’ve just got to reach for them.
Take the gold paintwork on this particularly spangly
AE86 Toyota Corolla. Gold is the colour of winners, it’s the
top of the podium, it’s something Spandau Ballet believed
made you indestructible… and so it’s come to pass here,
like a pantone reinterpretation of the concept of nominative
determinism. Pigmental determinism, perhaps? Whatever,
it worked – this gleaming golden hachi-roku made its debut
at SEMA 2019 and immediately scooped a top-40 place
in the Battle of the Builders, a top-10 in the Battle of the
Builders Sport Compact class, a place in the Toyo Tires
Treadpass tent, and 2nd place in the JE Pistons Masters
of Motors category. Given the quality and breadth of what
turns up at SEMA, it really is a phenomenal result for a car
built not by a big-budget custom shop, but a plumber who
just happens to like making cool cars in his spare time.
That’s right – it’s not just the magical qualities of gold
which have serendipitously led to these stellar successes,
but the grit and determination of Richard Gutierrez (aka
Riko), who’s basically spent his life wanting to build a car of
this quality and, now that he has, he’s really got a taste for it.

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