SORT OF A PREVIEW: Tomonori Akai’s AE86

December 26, 2008 12:30 am Published by

I promised him I’d put them up, so here’s some pics of Tomonori Akai’s AE86 Trueno hatch.

The event we were heading to was the MSC Challenge at Odaiba, an invitational for the best drivers in MSC events from all over the country. Getting up far to early in the morning, as is usual for attending a drift competition, can be compensated for by riding in the back of a V6 Toyota Alphard. I’m a big fan of these things now, and it towed Tomo’s AE86 with no problem at all.

However, once you arrive, getting out of the van and standing in the freezing cold wind isn’t much fun. At least all I had to do was point a camera and press buttons. Tomo is one of the almost insignificant number of people who actually trailers his car to an event, rather than sticking it on the back of a tilt-tray loader, which is the most common choice in Japan. I think it has something to do with licensing conditions, but I’m not sure. Should find out, I suppose!

More on this car later.

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This post was written by Alexi

14 Comments

  • Jakob says:

    that car is sick! makes me want to get a hachi too….
    i want pics of the interior!!!

  • DukeOfNY says:

    All of your mini-stories have been great, keep it up. I check your site nearly everyday and I’m always showing it my friends. Thanks

  • garage_86 says:

    good stuff as always !! btw its a hatch

  • ninja>pirate says:

    “AE86 Trueno coupe”
    Funny lookin’ coupe.

    Looks the business though.

  • Alexi says:

    Yeah, I should probably proof-read these before hitting the publish button.

  • s0apgun says:

    cool sideskirts

    what are they

  • Grip says:

    that rear shot is SEX.. can we get a desktop reso?..

  • Alexi says:

    You’re going to have to wait for Wallpaper Wednesdays…

    I asked Tomo just now, and he said “Side steps? I don’t know.”

  • Minto says:

    lol, So you going ahead with Wallpaper Wednesdays? Thats fantastic Alexi lol.
    Good Snaps as per and indeed got a bit of a soft spot myself for Alphard’s ^_^

  • Grip says:

    BTW beautiful blog..

  • Lorenzo says:

    Tomo is a really great guy and the trailer thing is basically that #1 space is an issue (Tomo has a factory where he keeps it) and #2 licence I think was another issue. (Have to double check on that thou). Then there is the cost of the trailer and where to buy it in Japan.

    Tomo’s AE86 is one of the lightest AE86 in Japan and he just punishes the hell out of that thing and sits on 10,000 RPM all day when at the track or when can. Runs a Black top 20V and has pretty much built that car all by himself (except for the engine and mapping).
    He has another shell which is a new work in progress with a BIGGER plan for 2009. The engine won’t be a Toyota and will be puching more power to compete at MSC.

    Can’t wait to see it but I can’t tell more details as this is Alexi’s blog after all.

    Keep it up Alexi and readers keep checking for updates!

  • Fury-S12 says:

    love the rear bar any idea on what that is ?

    hooray for wallpaper wednedsay happening too, new top quality japanese/drift based wallpaper each week is exactly what my pc needs

  • delazy says:

    alexi, any chance u have the specs on the wheels aswell?? or could find out for me??

  • Tiffany says:

    Tomonori’s a nice guy.. i still hold him responsible for encouraging me to drink too much at matsuri lol