For $15,000, Own A Binary Starlet System

While movies typically only have one headlining star, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe contest features a pair of co-stars- Toyotas that are the same but slightly different. It'll be up to you to determine if their combined price is a supernova of value.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and while Toyota's Starlet was one of the smallest rear-drive economy cars around, the fact that this Killeen Craigslist ad is offering up two of them makes it a pretty big deal.

That perhaps would not be the case if they were stock – wonder-twinning up a meager 116-bhp out of their 4K engines' combined 2,580-cc. Of course this being Texas, that's very much not the case.

Let's take these two Starlets one at a time, starting with the poop-colored one.

This tiny hatch has had its 1,290-cc 4K unceremoniously ripped out and replaced with a twin-cam 4A-GE four, notably late of an AE86. Stock, that Yamaha-headed engine pumped out anywhere from 112-126-bhp, depending on the model. This one has the cam cover lettering painted red, which could indicate that it's the higher tuned edition, but we're not stopping there.

In addition to the bigger (1,600-cc) mill, this Starlet gains a Garrett turbo and NOS, just freakin' because. No horsepower rating is given in the ad but it's likely to be in the hoo-hoo, hee-hee, oh-my range.

Backing up the heavily stressed 4A is a 5-speed W55 gearbox, and that sends power back to a 4:30 rear-end with a disc brake conversion. Aside from some shiny wheels, this turd-colored rocket appears intended to travel in stealth mode.

I guess you could call the other one poop-colored as well, but it's more of a baby's-first-summer yellow than traditional cinnamon starfish brown. It also features and entire left front fender and pinned hood are painted in tough-guy primer gray. Unlike the other Starlet, this one seems somewhat rough – sort of the Merle to the brown one's Daryl.

It's also different in what lies under its hood, eschewing Toyota power entirely for Mazda rotary motivation. That means a 12A which stock put out 101-hp, a nice upgrade to the Starlet's factory 58, but, seeing this is Texas, not nearly enough. It too gains a turbo, this one blowing through a Holley carb. No other specs are given for the yellow car although it does appear to have traded its front bumper for a nice air-to-air intercooler.

The seller says that both cars are in great shape and they come with clean titles. Again, this being Texas that probably doesn't mean a damn thing. If you were to try and title either of these rides in someplace like California they'd probably lock down the DMV and ship you off to the CARB re-education camp. I'm just hypothesizing that last bit, but let's just say that Texas is a little more liberal in their automotive emissions standards, and nothing else.

So there you go – two for one; twin sons of different mothers; a binary starlet system – all for $15,000. Yeah, the seller is willing to sell the cars individually, but that would be like splitting up Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese Twins. Sure, these two aren't conjoined by anything other than their shared Craigslist ad and price, but it just doesn't seem right.

Considering them as a package deal, perhaps serving both you and your attic-bound brother, what do you think about that $15,000 price tag? Is that a deal for so hot a pair of Starlets? Or, does that price mean these two are not burning so bright?

You decide!

Killeen Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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