Author Archives: Andrew

What Will Those Finns Think of Next?

September 29, 2008 in Videos by

So it seems this video has been doing the rounds lately but I thought I’d blog it in case anyone has missed it. After all it’s rather timely considering HR Blog’s recent Finnish Rally history article! What is actually going on? Well from what we can tell A band by the name of “Osmo’s Cosmos” (Yes free plug guys!) have decided to do a film clip for one of their songs and being from Finland they decided to …naturally feature some Rally action! and …naturally in an AE86! Yes we here at HR love it, It’s great to watch.

The video features upcoming rally driver Jussi Tiippana as pilot of a nicely prepped coupe. Watch carefully at the end of the clip, the guy ‘timing’ the race is 4 time WRC champion Juha Kankkunen. The premise is, Jussi is rallying through his local course in where he comes upon Osmo’s Cosmos’ broken down tour bus. They ask him for a lift (and all 6 members hop in!) and Jussi is then forced to taxi them to their various band stops… Great stuff.

Go you crazy Fins!

P.S Stay tuned for an Interview with the driver Jussi Tiippana!

Most Owners Hope…

September 25, 2008 in Random by

I’m sure most AE86 owners cringe at seeing something like this and hope they never get themselves into this situation. We’re not sure about the story of how this poor hachi ended up like this but we hope it got back on its feet in the end!

Do you have a story of disaster you can tell us about? Hit the comments and share the pain!

Finnish Group-n Rally History With Ari Saxberg

September 22, 2008 in AE86 History, Feature Cars, HR Originals by

The Finnish (That’s Finland) National Rally has given rise to some of the world’s best rally drivers. It’s a land of sweeping mountain passes and snow… lots and lots of snow, so what better combination to breed rally drivers? It’s no surprise then that rally is in the blood of most Finnish youngsters and motor sport enthusiasts.

Nordic countries have combined to produce 16 WRC title champions since 1977. Perhaps you might have heard about some of the Finnish drivers? guys like; Ari Vatanen, Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen and Marcus Grönholm. Whilst also being a breeding ground for great talent it, like any other hotly intense local competition is a survival of the fittest when it comes to the machinery.

Sure our beloved AE86 has done well in places like Japan, Australia, Ireland but what about the die-hard heartland of rally. Where the world’s greatest manufacturers grind their rally teeth? Where the record setting cars like the Audi Quattro and the Ford Escort RS battled it out with other makes like the Lancia Delta, Peugeot 205 GTI and Opels of various makes. I speak of Europe of course and one of its many snow filled battlegrounds; Finland.

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Ultimate AE86 Toy Buyers Guide.

September 19, 2008 in HR Originals by

I’ve come across a varied array of AE86 toys in the collections of grown men! (myself included). So it’s suffice to say that most AE86 owners are kids at heart. There are a large number of dedicated toy manufacturers out there whose catalogues include items that we probably shouldn’t be spending money on, but somehow always do.

Below is a extensive list of AE86 Toys most of which is still available for purchase, there are however a large number of discontinued items. What good is it listing them? Well if your as crazed about AE86’s as we are here at HR Blog then you’ll want to know about the rare stuff that you could possibly track down in a dark alley way hobby store.

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Soundtrack To An AE86 Life

September 8, 2008 in HR Originals, Random by

Some would argue that the only -music- that should be playing whilst driving an AE86 is solely the 4A-GE itself, singing away in the engine bay. This argument aside though, there is another style of music that can be found most frequently radiating from the car stereos of AE86’s.Upon hearing this style of music for the first time, that is to the uninitiated; It is always met with perplexed astonishment.

The music is Super Eurobeat and I thought we could give you the low-down on this bizarre yet addictive sub-genre that is associated with our scene.

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Ueo Katsuhiro: The Greatest?

September 1, 2008 in AE86 History, HR Originals by

Few people garner as much respect from AE86 enthusiasts as Ueo Katsuhiro (植尾勝浩), In fact perhaps the only man to make ’86 fanboys jump with glee like giddy schoolgirls more would be Keiichi Tsuchiya himself. I thought it was high time we at HR Blog took an in-depth look at the history of the man who brought the AE86 to the world professional drifting stage. Should we stick to fact or legend? Is Ueo the greatest AE86 drift pilot of all time? Is that a worthy title? Let’s find out.

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