- I'm a grown man, that's my problem.
I can do whatever I want. (engine revving)
A week into ownership, and it's my favorite car.
(upbeat techno music)
(TV static)
(upbeat music)
(sighs) Hello everyone.
I bet you're wondering why
there's a 1985 Toyota Corolla behind me.
And it's because I made the best huge mistake of my life,
and I purchased it.
I know what you're thinking, "Oh, where's your S13?
"It doesn't run.
"Oh, your RX-7's always broken.
"You're just gonna break this one just like that.
"Oh, where's your FD?
"You haven't showed us your FD in so long,
it's never gonna run.
"You have so many cars, what's your problem?"
I'm a grown man, that's my problem.
I can do whatever I want, so I bought that.
(rap music)
The reason I bought a 1985 Toyota Corolla is
because my old best friend in high school,
Luis Santana, he had a single cam swapped GTS coupe
and he loved it, I loved it.
He's really the main piece of the puzzle
that really go me into cars early on.
Shortly after that, a couple years later,
a little more into early 20s,
I ran into a new group of car friends.
And one of those people, two of those people had a AE86s.
Kevin Lawrence, who we used to call Hachi.
And then Christian, who we used to call Hachi Dos.
You know, obviously, once you get into Corollas that way,
you dive into things like Initial D.
And then you got videos like Katsuhiro Ueo.
(engine revving)
Chuck to chuck, lock to lock,
craziest Corolla sounds, craziest, just crazy.
AE86s are awesome.
(upbeat 80s music)
- [Narrator] The Toyota Corolla was introduced in 1966.
Corolla is Latin for small crown.
In reference to Toyota's proclivity
to give it's JDM sedan variants crown-based names.
Over the years, more than 12 generations
of Corollas have helped the model become one
of the best-selling cars in the world.
Today's Corolla features a wrong
or front wheel drive layout.
But early versions were rear-wheel drive,
and it's the last of these glorious models
that sets our hearts aflutter.
The AE86 was offered from 1983 to 1987
as part of the fifth generation of the Corolla range.
It came as a Levin with fixed headlights
or with retractable headlights as a Trueno.
And both designations were available in hatchback or coupe.
The model's JDM Hachi-Roku
nickname is Japanese for eight-six.
With a small, nimble chassis, manual gearbox,
a near 50/50 weight distribution,
and a high revving twin cam 16-valve,
iron block 4A-GE engine.
The Hachi-Roku was well-suited to spirited driving
and by extension, Motorsports.
The Hachi was campaigned in many Motorsports series
with varying degrees of success.
AE86 racers could be found in everything from Group N,
Stage Rally, the European Touring Car Championship,
and a tube chassis iteration
in the Japanese Grand Touring Championship.
Yet, it was drifting where the little Corolla earned
international acclaim and an enduring cult status.
Thanks mainly to a central role in Initial D,
the massively popular Japanese anime series.
Japanese racing icon Keiichi "Drift King" Tsuchiya
also helped popularize the AE86.
And to this day, his sprinter Trueno is still one
of the most recognized Hachis.
It makes me wonder if
our own personal drift king Hert could very well be
on the same path whit his new whip.
That is, if he doesn't break it first.
- They're perfectly slow in all the right ways.
And I'm super excited for this project.
(rap music)
- How many cars is this?
- [Crew Member] How many cars is this
for you, like chassis included?
I wanna know if he's beating Brian.
- How many parking spots?
- Arc 7, Arc 7, Arc 7, Arc 7. (laughs)
- [Crew Member] What?
- That's four.
- Corolla, GS 300, GS 350, (beep).
(laughs)
240SX, Yukon, nine cars.
- [Crew Member] Oh my God.
- Carcaine is a hell of a drug.
(rap music)
So basically, get yourself an NRG bucket seat.
And then luckily, this car came with Techno Toy seat rails,
which have a ton of adjustability.
And you basically just cock the seat back,
so you give it a nice, little gangster lean,
gives you room for the helmet.
But honestly, this is a family car.
So they thought about big people,
I think, when they made it.
So works out well for me.
(rap music)
I can't remember what part of my timeline
that I had an AE86, but I actually had two of them.
The second one, I remember that timeline.
But the first one,
I think it was an actual 86 Toyota Corolla SR5
red hatchback, full interior, perfectly running car.
But it was single cam, obviously.
It eventually got rod knock in that, and just, you know.
So I had to get rid of it.
And then later on down the line,
I actually owned a rolling chassis
with a 1J and R154 mounted to it.
The plan was, obviously, to get that running,
but that was way beyond my ability also.
I ended up parting out that car too,
'cause you know, same thing.
I just wasn't in the right place for that.
So I'm excited to really dive into this car
and just do what I wanted to do back then.
But with adult money, I guess.
(laughs) 'Cause kid money couldn't do it back then, so.
(rap music)
Wait, what are you going inside for?
- [Group] You got the gold, you got the gold.
- [Hert] You found my guilty pleasure?
- If you don't
about Cactus Cooler-- - Oh, that's yours?
- Don't try and find out.
This is--
- Anytime we are anywhere where they have Cactus Coolers,
Hert drinks at least four.
(laughs)
Back to back.
- Cactus Coolers are the rarest drinks in California.
(laughs)
They're the rarest drinks.
- The rarest drink?
- Have you ever had a Cactus Cooler?
- No, I have not.
- Well, they are the best.
I don't know.
- [Hert] Well, you only usually get them twice a year,
so if, you know, four's not so bad.
- We're talking rare wheels, we got Longchamps,
we got Blitz 03s, and then we got rare drinks.
- We got the Cactus Cooler.
Are you kidding me?
- [Hert] We came here to talk about the Cactus Corolla,
not the Cactus Cooler.
- You just named this thing?
Did you just name this thing?
Yo, Cactus Cooler, literally?
(rap music)
- AE86 is a special car,
just because it's, basically, like drifting.
The AE86 is basically drifting.
It's all intertwined with the DNA of drifting
and just Japanese car culture in general.
Like it's a legend.
If you ask most people, who love drifting,
they'll tell you Initial D and the AE86 was a big part
of why they fell in love with it.
Or they'll tell you they watched
Hot Version videos with Keiichi Tsuchiya.
(upbeat 80s music)
Keiichi Tsuchiya's uncanny ability
to slide a car is legendary.
But the Drift King's Motorsport
accolades are equally amazing.
Dori King honed his Jedi wheel skills
as a street racer in Japan.
And in 1977 he earned his first professional start
in the Fuji Freshman series.
Over the years, Tsuchiya-san has raced everything
from Corolla Sprinter Cup cars, F3 single-seaters,
Group A GT-Rs, JGTC touring cars,
and even NASCAR's and Le Mans prototypes.
At Le Mans, KT took a 1995 GT2 class win
in a works Honda NSX.
And he nearly won the French Classic in 1999
behind the wheel of Toyota's factory GT-One.
It was during his early career
where the Drift King would earn his name.
Getting sideways for fun during the heat of battle
in traditional Motorsport races.
Dori Kin's now iconic Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-V AE86 is
the car that launched his career.
And he spend many nights honing his skills
on the mountain roads of Japan.
This is why Tsuchiya-san was a consultant
on the Japanese anime series, Initial D.
There are so many parallels between Keiichi's younger years
and Initial D's lead character Takumi Fujiwara,
that many believe the anime to be loosely based
on the life and times of the Drift King himself.
Legend, wait for it, dary.
It's arguably one of the
most important vehicles in drifting.
(rap music)
well, if I had working axles, I would show you.
But right now the car's just spinning in the one tire,
'cause that's how much it makes.
You can just floor it.
Like right now, I could floor it and I won't go anywhere.
But it'll sound cool and it'll feel cool,
so that's why 100 horsepower cars are fun
to drive on the street.
'Cause like 500 horsepower is obviously sick,
but you can't do anything without going fast.
Like there's no, the only way you can go is fast.
(engine revving)
(rap music)
(engine starting)
(clapping)
- There you go.
(engine revving)
(rap music)
- The plan right now is just to paint it,
make it look nice.
I need to drive it around more,
just to feel out what the car needs, what it's calling for.
I don't like to just buy a car
and dive right into it, you know?
You gotta drive it, feel it out,
and figure out what you want to do to it.
But as of right now, the 4A-GE feels awesome.
And I've been doing a lot of research,
I really like a 20 valve setup.
And I also like a 7A-GE 20 valve hybrid.
So if I were to do anything to the engine,
I'd probably go that route.
But as far as chassis and stuff,
this car has got pretty much everything.
I'll probably swap out the coilovers first and BCs.
It's already got adjustable control arms, 4-link,
everything, it's a pretty well set up car.
Ultimately, paint and some kind of cool motor
with individual throttle bodies,
because that is what an AE86 should be.
(whack) (laughs)
- At me?
I've got a (beep) camera.
- (mumbles), it was right in your mouth.
- I've got a camera, right here.
(whack)
(laughs) - Sure.
- That super scary, that's huge,
it'd take a (beep) tooth out.
You can't be chucking monsters at people.
- [Hert] You guys just waisted a rosemary bar,
I hope you're happy.
So comment below, tell us if you like this new style VHS.
If you like this, we'll make more.
(TV static) - Hey, I'll tell you what.
Radio has a 1UZ Cressida,
and I give him a run for his money into third gear.
- Disclaimer, that's like 43 miles an hour.
(laughs)
So we're not breaking any laws, depending on where we are.
(engine running)