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!

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Sydney HR Meet-Up THIS SUNDAY!

September 26, 2008 in Community by

This Sunday the 28th,  we will be holding our September End Of Month Meet “Bowling for Steak”

HR will be heading to the Outback Steakhouse for eats and then across the road to AMF bowling to see who has the biggest balls.. err bowling balls that is!

We will be meeting at 6PM in the Outback Steakhouse car park, then upstairs for meat’N’greet!! Prices start at $15 for their burgers and up for $32 for the BIG T bone.

Once were full up there, we can waddle on to the AMF bowling centre for a few games of ten pin and laughs!

Location(s):
Outback Steakhouse 3 George Street North Strathfield Link

AMF Bowling Centre Link

HOPE TO SEE ALL YOU REGULARS AND NEW FACES AS WELL! Remember be on your best behaviour too!

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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!

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Aussie Group A ’86 @ Bathurst Museum

September 24, 2008 in AE86 History by

Almost two years ago I took a trip up to the National Motorsport Muesum at Mt Panorama in Bathurst to check out the old Group A AE86 that used to race around Bathurst back in the day. The museum has restored an old circuit racer and this particular car was piloted by John Smith and Drew Price from 1985 to 1987.

It is said that this car was originally built in Japan but only raced in Australia. The AE86 had 28 class wins from 28 race starts and is recognised for doing so in the ‘Guiness Book of Records’! The car also held the under 2 liter class touring car lap record in every Australian state within its time. Not bad for the humble hachiroku eh?

More pics after the jump:

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HACHiRoCK!! FESTA 2008

September 23, 2008 in Events by

Ahhh Japan. Does a week go by without another massive AE86 event happening somewhere on your small-yet-crowded island? First it was 8/6 day, then the insanity of racing at Okayama and now “HACHiRoCK!! FESTA 2008” When will it end? (Never we hope!)

The event is held annually in a reserved parking area owned by the Sagamiko Resort in Kanagawa and last year saw over 250 cars turn out for a day of AE86 fun and friendship. HACHiRoCK!! FESTA is mostly a social event where AE86 owners from all over Japan can get together and meet up with those they might only have ‘spoken to’ on the Internet.

The event is organised around an official schedule and within it there is an ‘Introductions’ segment where they go from group to group (organised into regions like yokohama, tokyo, kansai, etc) where everyone can find people they know on Minkara (A Japanese ‘Cardomain’ style site) and Mixi (Japanese ‘Facebook’) as well as people who live in your region and get to know them a little better. Oh and of course talk endlessly about your own car and the experience associated with drivng, racing, fixing and living/breathing an AE86 life.

For the 2008 event, over 20 sponsors turned up to support the gathering (including all the big workshops like Garage Annex, Expert-Oz, TOOLBOX, Ukiya Shoukai, CBY, TecArts and heaps more!) with more than 300 cars attending! It was an AE86 gathering of epic proportions!

Most of the workshops who turned up, brought along their top-shelf demo cars to no doubt garner interest in their hottest new design idea or perhaps just to gather spectator drool off the floor. A few of the more well known AE86-exclusive drift teams made the trip and transported their entire squads down there too!

It’s one of the biggest social AE86 events of the Japanese AE86 enthusiast calendar along with several other internationally renowned meets, its surely one to watch out for next year. Watch the HR Blog for next year’s direct coverage when our reporters head over to cover the massive event planned for ’09.

Check out the pics from the day here.

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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Tedsport 2.5L AE86 Rally Monster

September 18, 2008 in Feature Cars by

This would have to be the best prepared rally AE86 the world has seen. I remember seeing this car about a year ago and posted up a video on the forums when the car featured 200hp ‘Blacktop’ 20 valve 4A-GE. However the car has gone through some changes recently and this monster ’86 is now packing a Millington Diamond 2.5L 4-cylinder motor.

No idea what we’re on about? Well the Million Diamond is the motor that is currently used  and preferred by most of the big-shot ford escort owners in the Irish tarmac rally series. These engines have the potential of making above the 350hp mark with massive amounts of torque to boot!

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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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Certificate of Authenticity: Chowini ’86

September 16, 2008 in Feature Cars by

One of the newest members to the HR forums, Eircamae86, has scored himself his very own slice of real AE86 racing history with this period-spec Levin GTV.

TOM’S were assigned by Team Chowini in Hong Kong to build them another racer for their ever expanding stable of many AE86’s owned by the Chowini team.  The car was built from a brand-new never-registered 1983 Corolla Levin GTV. The chassis has since been fitted with a fully-gusseted, up-to-spec, 8 point roll cage throughout and all the original steel panels remain in their rightful place with the shell featuring lightweight ‘Lexan®-style’ glass for that added weight advantage.

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