This is, indeed, true. In standard form, the Toyota Starlet Turbo is one of the most discreet machines on the road. Unlike the fast Fords, or its other brother in spirit, the Renault 5 GT Turbo, it looks like something a district nurse might drive. But under the bonnet lurks enough fire-power to make it an extremely rude motor car.
The bad-boy Starlet has been around since 1987, when it was a rather more boxy affair than the car you see here. Encrusted with a body kit which gained no points for subtlety, it packed a 1295cc, single-cam, 12-valve four-pot of unusual violence. Thanks to an intercooled turbocharger, it treated psychotic Tokyo commuters to 111bhp to shift its bantam 790kg weight. You had to wring 6000rpm out of it first, though. Peak torque of 111lb ft arrived much sooner, at just 3600rpm.
Between 1990 and 1995, at which point it gained a touch more weight and became more noticeably sporting in style, the Starlet GT Turbo enjoyed its best incarnation and its halcyon days. The astoundingly bland styling concealed a 1331cc, 16-valve twin-cam four-pot. The inter-cooled turbo was present and correct, and gave it 133bhp at an eye-watering 6400rpm. Heavy-hitting torque was still available at around-town revs, and the weight had only crept up to 830kg. Sixty mph? You’ll be there in 6.9 seconds, sir. And if you like to live on the edge you can get it to 130mph.
