Category Archives: Feature Cars

HR Feature Cars. The Best AE86’s we can source and snap! In depth interviews with the owners and drivers of these machines.

It’s Still Rough Out There

March 1, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Even though we’ve seen it before, we can always look again! America’s AE86 man Antonio Alvendia is at it again, this time expressing his fanboy lust for the Rough World drift Trueno. Who can blame him? Rough World style is just so f*cking cool! This time he gets intimate with the finer details of the tough circuit beast.

As a drift team, Rough World is like a band of renegade samurai charging through the mountains with “I don’t give a F” attitudes, attacking the local touge roads late at night, stirring fear in the hearts of other drifters that might cross the Rough path; doing battle door to door, with no quarter asked and none given.

So get over there now and check it out.

There’s Something About Luxembourg

February 27, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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When it comes to hachirokus, nothing gives me more happiness than a nicely sorted street-spec AE86. Sure mental AE86 driftcars and balls-out circuit racers are DAMN cool, but its a part of me that really respects a clean daily driven 86.

This orange bandit belongs to HR forum member Yves. A resident of Luxembourg like previous feature car owner Pentti, Yves says his 1985 GT Levin is nothing special right now and he aspires to bring it to the level of Miguel Newera’s 86, what he deems as ultimate hachiroku perfection!

Let me just say, you’ve not got far to go my friend.

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AE86 Levin GT-V: Long Distance Gunner

February 24, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Our mates across the Tasman have certainly been busy! NZ has always been a haven for hardcore modified AE86’s but Dan Udy’s Corolla Levin, apparently built for endurance racing, takes the cake! Packing an SR-20 powerplant, this 1985 GT-V not only houses quite a substantial engine swap but it’s presented in flawless show car quality!

With around 450hp flowing down via the rear wheels, and less than 1000kg of mass to push around, this Levin should have no problems being competitive. Truth be told, it actually stands a good chance of winning.

The purists might have a problem with the Nissan engine, but this Levin is just so clean and well executed you just gotta love it.

Read the full article and check out the expansive gallery @ NZ Performance Car Blog.

Taka Aono’s AE86 Turbo

February 22, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Fellow AE86 addict Antonio Alvendia shoots and specs America’s most famous AE86 as part of Speedhunters’ ongoing ‘Toyota Month’.

I think the build quality of Taka’s AE86 is outstanding. However even more outstanding is the way he fearlessly pilots his car; full throttle, full lock, full commitment. It will be interesting to see Taka and his AE86 during the 2009 Formula D season, now that he is no longer a works driver with Team Falken.

I just don’t think I could imagine this car wrapped in any other tire company’s livery than the blue and teal that it’s been wearing for the past few years. I guess we will see this April in Long Beach!

Jump over there now and check out an amazing AE86 engineering marvel!  Absolutely insane…..

T10’s Twin Truenos

February 12, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Who would’ve thought two guys from Turn10 (the studio behind Forza Motorsport 2 on the XBOX360) own AE86s? They decided to get together to shoot these two pristine examples one afternoon when the sun was shining through the clouds of Northern California.

Art’s Trueno is just straight cleanliness. Definitely one of the cleanest, well maintained Corollas in the area, and when I first found out he owned one I got really excited. Not only can we talk shop about our favorite 80’s econobox, but we can also do cool things like taking pictures of our prized possessions.

As you can see we are both rocking the “Kouki” (late model) front end, with his being the factory JDM front (pure hotness). Add in some Volks, some nice suspension, the cleanest 86 engine bay I’ve seen in a while and you have Art’s Corolla. It’s also worth mentioning that he’s owned this car for nearly 5 years, creeping up on OG rolla status.

Get over to the T10 Studios blog and check them out!

Luxembourg Style

February 11, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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In regards the AE86, Europe is a diverse mix of all different styles of modifying. In Germany, the classic “European” styling trend is to take a Levin coupe, make minimal modifications and fit a set of Atiwe or Ronal wheels. On the contrary, in England and Ireland the style is more of a copy of the Japanese trends with each countries little touches thrown in.

It seems somewhere half way between these two points, around the Benelux countries, these styles clashed and the result is something unique. One such car which reflects this perfect combination, taking something from both parts of the world, is this Kouki Levin from Luxembourg.

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One Cool Motherf*cker

January 30, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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When I see a purple drift-spec AE86 I think of only one thing: T-50 Japan. Tomonori Akai (pictured being cool as f*ck) is the proud owner of this hachi…go!

Yep that’s right this ones originally an AE85, but it has come quite a long way since it rolled off the line with a measly 3A-U in it!  Now rockin’ a 190bhp 10,00rpm 4A screamer, Tomonori takes it to MSC drift events all over the land of the rising sun and smashes his opponents to bits.

For the rest of the pics (and the specs of this nutter) hit up noriyaro.com (cheers Alexi!)

Clean Cali-Style Levin

January 27, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Considering the US only ever got Trueno body styled AE86’s, seeing a Levin in America is a pretty special thing. This super fresh example is owned by Club4AG member shannon who has spent the last 2 years bolt-by-bolt restoring this USDM coupe to its current glory.

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Impulse AE86 Evolution

January 23, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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Built by relatively new-school AE86 tuners Impulse, this Trueno is so damn clean you might mistake it for a Carland rebuild straight from the pages of Levin & Trueno Magazine.

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End Of The Road For Another ’86 Driver

January 21, 2009 in Feature Cars by

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When Garth asked me what I was writing about this week I was somewhat stumped. With my head being currently focused on only one thing at the moment – finishing my drift project – it was proving difficult to give him an answer.

Then I was chatting to a fellow sideways pilot Brad and discovered that he was moving on and selling his AE86 to pursue another route in life. At that point I thought of two things 1. SHIT Brad you are crazy! 2. SHIT! I should do a article on his car before it changes hands!

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