Since shifting to Japan simply two quick years in the past, buying an AE86 was #1 on my bucket record. However proudly owning a automobile in Japan is difficult, so ticking this dream off was simpler stated than carried out.
AE86s are dumb, and as somebody who’s now owned three of them, I can fortunately verify that dumb automobiles are one of the best automobiles. Again dwelling in Australia, a number of different JDM automobiles have known as my storage dwelling. However from Silvias to Civics, a Forester STI and even a GT86, the will to get again in a Hachiroku at all times lingered.
Nothing fairly tickles the mind the identical means an AE86 does, one thing I don’t imagine many individuals perceive till they’ve had the possibility to expertise one. However are you able to blame them? It’s a 40-year-old Corolla with 130hp on an ideal day. Not a lot about that combo sounds attractive. However as quickly as you’re behind the wheel, all preconceptions are thrown out the window. Practically everybody I’ve ever thrown my AE86 keys to has responded with ‘I get it now’ post-drive.
Even after constructing my first AE86 in Australia from the bottom up, blowing the motor, after which promoting the automobile to fund two Silvias, I couldn’t shake the Hachiroku possession urge. So late-2019 I stated farewell to the S13 and S14 and jumped again behind the wheel of one other sub-150hp Corolla. It was probably the most satisfying 150hp ever.
After I moved to Japan, I held onto my Australian AE86 at dwelling, fearing being unable to switch such a superb instance and costs getting too excessive. However come 2023, it was time to let it go and hunt for one thing on this aspect of the world that could possibly be pushed and loved, not parked as much as accumulate mud.
Discovering the precise automobile in Japan was exhausting. I used to be initially chasing a Trueno hatchback – the one variant of AE86 I’ve but to personal. However after six months of looking, and the market seemingly getting dryer and dearer by the week, a message from AE86 specialist store Storage Infinity landed in my inbox.
Chargeable for a number of AE86 occasions and drift days, Storage Infinity is without doubt one of the pillars of Japan’s Hachiroku neighborhood.
With such a excessive popularity, saying no to one among their automobiles was exhausting. Albeit the exact opposite variation of a Trueno hatch, the Levin notch is one among my favourites.
The automobile introduced effectively so far as AE86s go and ticked most of my packing containers. With the assistance of Google Translate and Storage Infinity’s endurance, I grew to become the Levin’s new proprietor.
It’s often simple to know what kind of particular person owned a automobile earlier than you. This one, nonetheless, I nonetheless couldn’t inform you. It had little to no rust, an entire inside with working air-con, and meticulous consideration to element with most of its modifications. However there was one caveat.
Whereas it might look OK on digital camera, the paintwork left a lot to be desired. Initially a white automobile, someday in its possession historical past, somebody seemingly obtained carried away with an at-home paint set-up and a container of glitter. It’s a salmon purple/pink with sufficient rainbow sparkle to cowl the complete Toyota manufacturing line. However hey, that’s why it’s a challenge automobile.
Underneath the bonnet, the Levin retains its manufacturing facility 1.6L DOHC 16V 4A-GE with the addition of an ITB setup, Toda 288-degree cams, a metallic head gasket, port and polish, and a Freedom ECU. And whereas my neighbours would possibly disagree, the automobile makes all the precise sounds, particularly with its Kakimoto Racing straight-through exhaust.
The Levin sits on a sq. set of RS Watanabe wheels, 15×9-inch -13 in any respect 4 corners. With Yokohama Advan AD08R semi-slicks, it has extra grip than you’d ever want, besides on Tokyo’s annual day of snow…
I’ve owned the automobile for round six months now, and it’s been an nearly seamless expertise. In addition to a gas pump failure and an ECU that doesn’t get pleasure from Tokyo summers, the Levin has survived each every day duties and street journeys.
So what’s subsequent for Challenge AE86? Having been on the opposite aspect of the digital camera at drifting occasions for years, I feel it’s about time I soar behind the wheel. I additionally plan on making this automobile a bit extra of my very own. Working with well-known outlets in Japan, eliminating that ‘purple’ and swapping the archaic ECU might be a superb begin.
For now, although, a fast journey as much as Ebisu Circuit is so as…
Alec Pender
Instagram: noplansco
