Tag Archives: USA

Taka Aono: It’s Not A Handicap. Period.

February 25, 2013 in Videos by

Campaigned from the very first race by Taka and his wife Yoshie, he is the only driver on the grid to have driven the same chassis in every race meeting of Formula Drift since its inception in 2004.

Yeah, you read that right. After almost 10 years, the only AE86 that still arrives every event to go up against the new talent in their modern cars is Taka’s. But it’s not easy to keep coming back. He’s constantly told the time has come to step out of his beloved AE chassis into something more modern to compete to win.

The reasons he’s given? Too light. No power. Wheelbase is too short. Too old.

What does Taka think? Like a true hachiroku ‘lifer’ he is pragmatic: “You know, I should say… the car is there, but I need to drive better…. I gotta catch up with the power. I need to be the big man, or I gotta get bigger balls or whatever… but the Corolla, it’s not a handicap. Period.”

OEM Fresh Trueno With a Turbo BEAMS Twist

December 22, 2012 in Feature Cars by

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Illmotion has a unique grasp on some of the Canada’s cleanest builds. This time it’s Orlando Tan’s 1986 Corolla GT-S, otherwise known as a Sprinter Trueno outside of North America – but this factory-spec minter has an ace up it’s sleeve…

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FR-S, BRZ & AE86 Passion at 86FEST

October 15, 2012 in Events by

Antonio (of Cipher Garage fame) gives the rundown of his very first 86FEST event that took place last weekend in California. 1500 cars…. :O

Check it out over at MotorMavens

Not For The Purists: Yankee Style

May 26, 2010 in Feature Cars by

This is globalisation working its strange voodoo.  1: AE86 craze in Japan jumps the Pacific to the USA to be popularised by the Need For Speed Underground franchise bringing the humble hachiroku to the masses. Step 2: USA goes hell for leather giving the ‘Corolla GT-S’ their own unique flavor, adding on key items like huge wheels and ground-effects kits – Just think ‘Jada Toys’. Step 3: USDM-Style gets picked up in Japan coming full circle with a Japanese take on the American way of like (similarly called Yankee-Style in fashion circles) and you get something like this monster! 17″ wheels wearing 215×40 tyres and a big-single SR20 under the hood.

[HACHI ROKU RECIPE: Small car, big turbo via NoriYaro]

Brandon Leung’s AE86 Trueno

October 16, 2009 in Videos by

After recently seeing this amazing car again for the first time in a while, I thought it was only fair we shared it with everyone who might never have seen it. Originally a JTUNED project, this little hachiroku went through a few guises before coming out looking a million bucks as you see it in the video. I must admit, my monochrome Trueno project takes a few styling tips from this awesome streetcar! Check out Brandon’s super cool streetwear (and Honda Ruckus) shop (as featured in the video) @ Bowls LA!

AE86 in At Musing’s End

September 10, 2009 in Videos by

At Musings End
Zemosh from 86ers.org found this short film, At Musing’s End by Wesley Chan, in the Cannes 2008 short films selection. It is a short film about daydreaming and the highs and lows of the relationship between Adam and Robin. One of the most important scenes in this movie includes a US 2-door Corolla GT-S coupé owned by Adam.

This narration by Robin especially caught me:

His new car… It was the oldest new car she had ever seen. Why he wanted such a thing completely escaped her. A work in progress he claimed. She hated that car. Not because he spent more money on it than her, not because nothing inside worked, or because it always smelled like sweat and grease. She hated it because it was red. An ugly red, like an unflattering sweater he insisted on wearing all the time…

Why do I have the feeling all the above just hits the nail on its head? Personal experience? Seen it too often at other hachi owners as well? :D At Musing’s End from Wesley Chan on Vimeo.

Something Different: OSTC ’09

September 2, 2009 in Events by

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With over 300 retro rides parked for a day in the sun, the Old School Toyota Car Club Classic Import Car Show last weekend was a huge hit!  With people coming from all over the Eastern States of the USA, it was surely a day of steel and chrome appreciations with not only Toyotas represented, but also a selection of Datsuns, Mazdas and even a few domestics too!

Go have a look at the variety of rides (including more than a few AE86s!) over @ AEU86 Forums!

Enemies Then Friends

August 27, 2009 in Community by

hachirokuguys

It’s that moment of apprehension when you see someone agape at your freshly washed and shiny ride, staring in envy. You think to youself, ‘What’s this joker up to?’ and run over one million ‘worst case senarios’ in your head. Before you have a chance to get paranoid, you realise they’re just another AE86 owner (or admirer) who will shortly introduce themselves to you and, no doubt, start you into a lengthy chat about how and why our little hachiroku is so damn alluring.  Being a pretty damn harcore ‘hachiroku guy’ himself, Antonio over at MotorMavens has no doubt been in this situation before, and recently found himself in Seattle on the flipside of this exact kind of encounter:

So here I was; standing inside Goods; checking out some sneakers, when low and behold, a bright red AE86 hatchback pulls up and parks right in front of the store. I couldn’t have even timed it more perfectly, it was funny. I obviously stepped outside the store for a closer look at this red kouki hatchback, and immediately two 86ers got out of the car with strange looks on their faces (you know, one of those “why the hell is this weirdo staring at the car” faces).

However, as soon as I introduced myself as a fellow AE86 owner from Los Angeles, it was all good. No problems. For some reason, no matter where you are in the world… when a hachiroku guy meets another hachiroku guy visiting from out of town, they seem to form some sort of instant connection. (Not in a gay way)

This is probably the biggest reason I started HR in the first place. The hachiroku community worldwide just seems to be full of friendly and genuinely cool people. I’m not an expert on the matter, but I’d say it plays a big part of why some people are ‘hachiroku guys’ and never anything else. I know for sure, I’ll be a hachiroku guy for the rest of my days and damn proud of it too!

But I digress, you should check out the rest of the encounter over at MotorMavens now!

Last One Ever: 2009 Nisei Week Showoff

August 18, 2009 in Events by

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The common misconception when it comes to “show” style events that its all about chrome wheels, tanned leather interiors and penis hair cuts (especially in Australia). But as times change, so do the style of cars put on display at show events. Some say it has changed for the worse, I personally believe it has changed for the better. A perfect example of this was at last weekend 2009 Nisei Week Show Off in Los Angeles, USA with a mix and match of many different styles.

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Hard F**kin’ Core

August 5, 2009 in Events by

pakula86

Again we have Mr Alvendia doing what he does best: shooting AE86s! This time a killer action shot of some dirt turbo at the Ziptied All Star Bash. Antonio writes:

I just found out that Orange County based AE86er Luke Pakula is originally from Chicago – in fact, while we were all catching up and getting our grub on at KBBQ in Koreatown, Luke explained that he went to high school with some of the Risky Devil guys. No wonder they were so friendly and happy to see each other at the track, haha! Luke was working on aggressively conquering the top of the fishbowl on the back section of Streets, but at one point, he slipped off the pavement, with his rear wheels kicking up tons of dirt! Looked dope though!

I can’t argue there. A sick hachiroku and a super agressive angle shot too. Lets hope Antonio reads this and gives us the wallpaper version!

Check out the rest of the series over @ MotorMavens