Tag Archives: Keiichi Tsuchiya

Hachiroku Master: Tsuchiya & The New 86

All of us here at HR Blog have been long time fans of Irish motorsport photographer Paddy McGrath, but his latest works might just contain some of the most iconic images of the Drift King yet! However they didn’t come without a great deal of personal anguish from Paddy!

He writes:

Those of you with an interest in drifting will surely recognize the name Keiichi Tsuchyia, also known as the ‘Drift King’. Tsuchyia-san is the godfather of drifting, and without doubt one of the most important people in the history of the sport. CAR (magazine) wanted to celebrate his history whilst also exploring his involvement with Toyota’s new GT86. The brief I received illustrated clearly what CAR wanted from the shoot, and allowed me to plan in advance what equipment I would be relying on.

Unfortunately, on the day of the shoot my appendix decided it no longer wanted to be a part of me. Shooting in much discomfort and pain, I was limited in my movement and abilities. It was pretty upsetting, as this was something I wanted to deliver 110% but I just couldn’t. I pushed on as much as I could and once the shoot was over, made my way to a local hospital where I was admitted for surgery.

I knew beforehand that there was a tight deadline, so I started editing the images a couple of hours after surgery. It probably wasn’t a great idea editing them in a hospital ward (under fluorescent lights) and under the influence of many amazing drugs, but sometimes you have to push on. All things considered, I was happy with the product of the day’s work. I just can’t help but think what could have been though …

With a tenacious work ethic like that, it’s easy to see why Paddy has come so far in the world of motorsport photography in just a few short years!

Hit this link here to see the full set of amazing images and the whole story, and be sure to pick up the August issue of CAR magazine for the article!


Ten AE86s That Influenced a Generation

Back in 2009, Jeroen Willemsen from SPEEDHUNTERS asked us to write a guest blog for their massive site about the AE86. Jeroen writes:

“Rod asked me to make a top ten list of the best and most influential AE86’s. I’m no expert on everything Hachi, so I decided to ask some of my friends from Australia who run HR – the best hachiroku blog on the web – if they could help me out and they happily obliged. So here you have it, the top ten most influential AE86’s through the eyes of Adam Hocker and Garth Ivers.”

We tried to make the article as international as possible so there might be certain cars you guys think should be in there. So don’t hate us for leaving out your favorite car :) As for Akira Iida’s ’86, Hasselgren, etc they were up there with the others but when there’s only 10 to choose from… well you know!

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Dorikin AE86 Street 2012 Version

Hot Version DVD Volume 114 will feature Tsuchiya’s rebuilt 1.8L 7A-GE 20v AE86. From the sound of the video below, it’s one angry little powerplant!

Just look how happy he is!


Keiichi’s Fuji Hot Lap

AE86 on the 1.5km long Fuji Speedway straight? Hell yes.


Happy Birthday Dorikin!

This Saturday January 30, marks the 54th birthday of none other than Tsuchiya Keiichi aka “Dorikin”. So today we salute him for being such an inspiration over the years, not only to us in the hachi-roku community, but also the drifting and greater modified car community in Japan and around the world. We would like to extend our well wishes to the living legend, Happy Birthday Dorikin!

たんじょうびおめでとう 土屋 圭市 全員から はちろくブログ
(Happy birthday Tsuchiya from us all at HR blog)

To celebrate, we have compiled a little history of the man and his racing-filled life!

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Panda Party

pandaparade

All white and all rocking smooth and clean mods, these fairly standard-bodied rides are a refreshing change from the ever-increasing madness we see coming out of Japan and the USA sporting all kinds of wide bodied, flared, blistered, pumped and who-knows-what-else body work. Chester Ng has these great shots of a crew of AE86 lovers from Hong Kong up on his website.  Sometimes less is more and for this selection of hachiroku it couldn’t be more true. I love the ‘Takumi’ and ‘Keiichi’ copycats, they’re almost perfect!


Mixed Bag Battle!

What happens when you pit a handful of AE86s against a Civic Type-R, CRX, Celica, Cappuccino and an MX-5? Find out with parts 2, 3 & 4 here!


Watch AE86Club DVD’s Now!

ae86club

It was only a matter of time until one AE86 maniac got his sh*t together and posted this awesome series on YouTube. User mike0256 has spent some good hours ripping and uploading the entire AE86Club series for the benefit of all hachikind, so Check it out at his ‘Tube channel now and send him some messages of thanks!

So when you’ve watched em on youtube, get out there and buy the real deal so maybe we can get a volume 10 in the near future!