How a 1UZ V8, an RX7 Sunroof, and Some Guys from Mardan Built Pakistan’s Most Serious Corolla
By The Community
Let’s Be Honest
Nobody looks at a KE70 and thinks “drift car.”
It’s a Corolla. A small one. The kind of car you learned to drive in, not the kind that makes people step back and take photos. Short wheelbase means snappy, unpredictable, ready to spin you out the moment you get greedy.
Around the world, sure, it’s a starter drift car. A platform to learn on before you move up to something serious.
In Pakistan? Most KE70s don’t go beyond donuts in an empty lot. Nothing wrong with that. But nobody expected one to go further.
Then this one showed up.
And suddenly, the conversation changed.
The Car
It’s from Mardan.
Built by Mustafa Khan Durrani and his friends. Not a shop. Not a sponsored build. Just guys who wanted to see how far a KE70 could actually go if you didn’t cut corners.
The engine is a 1UZ V8. For those who know, that’s all that needs to be said. Torque. Reliability. The kind of power that twists things into metal confetti if the rest of the car isn’t ready for it.
Everything else was built to match.
Angle kit, because the biggest fight with a KE70 is running out of steering mid-slide. LSD, because one wheel spinning is just noise, not drifting. Upgraded driveshaft, because the stock one would have surrendered immediately. Tein coilovers, because suspension is everything in a drift car and cheap parts have no place here.
Roll cage. Recaro buckets. W58 gearbox good for 350HP if you treat it right. Upgraded clutch. Stainless steel 3-inch downpipe. Works wheels. Sikens paint, that blue-cyan shade that catches light wrong and makes you look twice.
Frame strengthened. Custom taillights.
Everything branded. Everything chosen. No shortcuts.
The Sunroof
But here’s the detail that tells you everything about this build.
In Peshawar and KPK, sunroofs are a thing. People put them in everything. Mark X sunroofs. Crown sunroofs. Whatever’s lying around in the bazaar.
This car has an RX7 sunroof.
Think about that. Someone found a sunroof from an RX7, a car that was never common here and fit it into a KE70. Not because it was easy. Because it was right. Because when you’re building something properly, you don’t just grab whatever’s available. You hunt. You search. You wait until the right part appears.
That’s the spirit of this city. Of this scene. Of builds like this.
What It Means
There’s an assumption that a KE70 can’t be a proper drift car. Too short. Too snappy. Too limited.
This car challenges that.
Not with words. With videos. With the ones Teekay (Talha Khan Yousafzai) posted. With the reaction from people who saw it and couldn’t look away. With international recognition from people who know what they’re looking at.
Is it finished? No. Still being tweaked. Still being improved. That’s the nature of a build like this it’s never really done. There’s always something else to chase.
But when the next Pakistan Drift Series happens? When a Matsuri event finally rolls around?
This car will line up with the rest. A KE70 from Mardan. V8 swapped. RX7 sunroof. Built by friends on nights and weekends.
And it’ll show exactly how far this platform can go when someone actually believes in it.
The Truth
Not every build needs to be a Skyline or a Supra.
Sometimes the most impressive car in the scene is the one everyone overlooked. The one that shouldn’t work. The one that proves assumptions are just assumptions until someone decides to test them.
Mustafa and his friends tested them.
The car is still being worked on. Still being dialed in. And when it’s ready, when it finally meets competition on a track, we’ll be watching.
Because this isn’t just a KE70 anymore.
It’s a statement.
THE FULL EXPERIENCE
This is just the beginning, There are many more stories like this and better in the Magazine. Find the full experience in the Carnama shop.
CHECK OUT THE MAGAZINE HERE.
Special Thanks
To Mustafa Khan Durrani and the guys who built it. For not cutting corners.
To Teekay (Talha Khan Yousafzai) for putting it where we could see it.
To whoever found that RX7 sunroof and knew it belonged here.
And to the car itself. Keep tweaking. Keep improving. We’re waiting for what comes next.
To Mustafa: Wishing you all the luck and best wishes, mashaAllah. Can’t wait to see it on track.
From all of us who were there, and all of us who still are.