Category Archives: HR Originals

HR Original Features. Only the best in AE86 Related News!

‘86 Essentials: Tube Garage

November 14, 2008 in HR Originals by

Another Japanese car yard specialising in AE86s, Tube Garage the place to go for some seriously good condition Hachiroku’s.  Like their Kyoto brothers Carland, Tube Garage offers all kinds of AE86 related goods & services to the folks in around Ichinomiya City in Aichi. Catering for all walks of AE86 enthusiast, they offer ‘Best Car’ and ‘Low Price’ cars in addition to their flock of tasty ‘Regular’ (and we use this word loosely) Levins and Truenos.

Their juxtaposing Trueno and Levin Demo cars, both set-up quite differently (one sporting a AE111 Blacktop 20 valve – the other a AE92 16 valve ‘smallport’), are just a representation of the high standard of vehicles that Tube Garage offer on their 60 car strong ’86-only sales lot!

Check ’em out here.

Top 10 Most Influential AE86’s!

November 4, 2008 in HR Originals by

If there had to be only ten AE86s to influence our scene – we think it would be these! Selected from all over the globe, the Australian scene has taken styling and tuning cues from Japan, Ireland, America and of course home soil. So hit the jump and check out what I think are the Top 10 Most Influential AE86s!

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Jussi Tiippana: AE86 Boy-Wonder

October 9, 2008 in Feature Cars, HR Originals by

He could rally and slide a car through the dangerous twisted forest/hill roads before he was legally allowed to own a license. His father carefully overlooked his sons progress with planned input and nurturing leading to a steady incline of progression. Whilst still in high school he then made his debut in his trusty AE86 and won his first real competition against drivers of all ages and experience. Then came the switch to a WRX and.., Ok so before I go any further and tell you that Jussi Tiippana also delivered tofu up a mountain every morning at 4AM…. wait no, I’ll stop this childish Initial-D analogy right here.

Jussi Tiippana is an upcoming rally driver and one to definitely look out for in the future! This year at merely the age of 19 (b. 10-10-1989) he competed in both the ‘Neste Oil Rally FInalnd’ and the ‘Sweden WRC Rally’ (Yes both rounds of the WRC) with a nicely prepped WRX. But as already mentioned he paved the way and had tremendous success in his previous competition car; an AE86 Coupe. So we here at HR Blog thought we’d contact Jussi and talk all things AE86.

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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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Okayama AE86 Festival 2008

September 17, 2008 in Events, HR Originals by

After pouring over the photos from last years coverage on the web, I knew then that I simply had to attend this years event. So after saving up all my cash and asking countless people to finally find someone who would come with me on the trip to Japan, I was truly on my way to attend the AE86 Festival in Okayama Circuit and man… WHAT an experience!

Hit the jump for the full story and over 200 photos from the event!

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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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Robo’s Fat Levin Coupe!

August 27, 2008 in HR Originals by

Today we have another Aussie feature car/interview for you. One of my favourite AE86’s, Robo’s simple yet effective Levin coupe is certainly tough as nails.

Background on yourself?
Well I was born in Brisbane in 1990, grew up around cars & motorbikes so I guess that was the start of it all! I have been into drifting/ import scene for a while now and i started going out to Queensland Raceway for photography back in late 2003 at the age of twelve or so! :)

History of your car?
From what I can tell my ’86 was driven around daily in Tokyo, Japan (where it came from), it had an easy life, I was very happy to see it as clean as it was! Being a grade 3 auction car, it was better than expected to be honest. When I got it the modding began from day one, I remember running inside to grab the dildo shifter to put in. Then came suspension/ wheels and as they say the rest is history!

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F20C Conversions: The New Black?

August 20, 2008 in HR Originals by

If you’re ontop of whats happenning in drifting worldwide, you would be aware of the current trend of putting the Honda S2000’s F20C engine into the AE86. One reason you could summise why the swap is so popular is to try and reduce the inherent lack of power output most professional AE86 drifters suffer from.  At least 5 major AE86 drifters from the USA have chosen the Honda route and successfully pulled it off with the European guys more recently jumping onto the bandwagon with conversions of their own.

Now here @ HR Blog we love all things AE86, however some of us are purists whilst others embrace the idea of the engine transplant. We want to know what you think about engine transplants (or any other complete component transplants for that matter) and what your dream AE86 configuration would entail. Original, Hi-tech or a straight out mongrel – get commenting and let us hear your ideas!