SP Rides: Itching for a ’70s Ride
BY MICHAEL KITCHENS
Ask Delbert “Del” Sumailo what he loves about life and he’ll immediately mention family and travel. But he’ll also tell you about his other passion — cars — and you can almost hear the sound of engines echoing in the chambers of his heart, and see an itch for all things automotive developing under his skin.
Sumailo received his first car, a ’74 Toyota Celica, as a teenager. Soon after, he found himself getting into old-school imports, mini-trucks, Hondas and hot rods. Over the years, he’s built his share of rides, including his last two projects: a fully modified Yukon and Tahoe. With those SUVs completed over a year ago, he began shopping again for his next project — something from the ’70s that would remind him of his youth.
He found that project recently after seeing an ad for a 1976 Toyota Corolla, which had been locked in storage for nine years until the owner finally decided to put it up for sale. Sumailo was one of the first to express interest in it, but he soon discovered the car was in rough shape and needed to percolate. After a couple of other interested parties declined to make an offer, the owner called Sumailo and asked if he still wanted the Corolla.
Without giving it a second though, he jumped with both feet first into the deep end.
“It was overwhelming at first, but something like that was a challenge, and it took some time, patience and money and understanding from my own family,” he explained.
At first he was unsure where to begin, but he ultimately decided to star at the bottom of the Corolla, gutting the entire vehicle down to the bare frame. After the body was sent off to be worked and painted, work to the interior came next. New carpet was installed, and the back seats were reupholstered by Al’s Upholstery while brand new Sick Speed seats took over the front. Custom painting was then applied to select portions of the interior, the headliner was replaced and the door panels were refurbished. Even the trunk got the Grade-A treatment as Sumailo painted and polished the fuel tank while re-carpeting it. Of special note is the fully customized, hand-built samurai shift lever, which is awesome to feel in your hand.
Sumailo modified the suspension setup, including redoing the brakes, tie rods and coil springs — learning quite a bit about the car’s suspension along the way. The rear of the Celica even features a 2-inch drop block. In addition, he hand-built the front strut bar himself.
The motor was then rewired and powder-coated by One-Stop Shop, and later color matched. Every single bit of aluminum or metal has been hand-polished by Sumailo. The heads were resurfaced by Ted’s Automotive Machine Shop, and new pistons and double springs were installed. Exhaust Systems Hawaii was responsible for the new setup, from the chrome headers all the way back.
Sumailo is more than ecstatic about the setup. His ride is simply immaculate and it’s all because he had an automotive itch to scratch. It’s also fitting that his cars have come full circle, as he started with a Toyota and has ended with a Toyota.
For the meantime, anyways.
