As somebody who has owned and daily-driven an AE86 for about three years, I fully perceive the Irish obsession with ‘Twin Cams.’
Again in 2021, once I nonetheless owned my Corolla, I made a solo journey to Eire for 86 Fest. That was in COVID instances and a slimmed-down affair, so I all the time wished to return. This yr, after studying that Paddy couldn’t make it to the 2024 version, my buddy Michael and I managed to snag a last-minute low-cost flight from Amsterdam to Eire on the Sunday morning of the occasion.
We left house at 5:00am, touchdown in Dublin round 11 the place we had been greeted by a quintessentially gray Irish sky. We drove straight to Mondello Park, Eire’s most well-known racetrack and, for at the present time, the epicentre of the biggest gathering of AE86s exterior Japan.
Though I’ve had my justifiable share of automobiles, I genuinely miss my Corolla. Being surrounded by each mannequin, color, and magnificence of AE86 solely bolstered the very fact.
It’s all the time cool to see a mixture of Corolla Levin (mounted headlights) fashions and the long-lasting Sprinter Trueno (pop-up headlights), in addition to coupes and hatchbacks facet by facet.
My favorite is the Levin hatch, however I admit I’m biased – this was my one.
Within the Netherlands, there are roughly 15 AE86s round, and it’s turning into rarer to see them modified or pushed aggressively. With rising values, these automobiles are solely getting additional away from the reasonably priced automobiles they as soon as had been.
However 86 Fest Eire showcased the automotive’s enjoyable facet with loads of monitor motion. I noticed at the least 50 AE86s being pushed laborious all day, identical to in these ’90s/early 2000s Possibility drifting movies all of us love.
The distinction in velocity and tyre smoke manufacturing between the naturally aspirated 4A-GE-powered AE86s and people with turbo upgrades or full engine swaps highlighted the evolution of drifting as a legit motorsport.
86 Fest’s present space was equally spectacular, that includes all the things from fully-kitted ’90s drift-inspired machines to pristine unique restorations and the distinctive ‘UK Spec’ automobiles with giant rally spotlights and typically enormous roof antennas.
A staple of Irish automotive tradition are doughnuts – AKA ‘rings’ – and determine eights round cones, so after all that ingredient was included. At Mondello Park’s skid pan, drivers completed off their drift tyres earlier than swapping on contemporary ones for extra monitor time.
Probably the most memorable issues about this yr’s occasion was the parade lap with all of the attending automobiles. Being amidst a sea of 200+ Corollas and different uncommon Toyotas felt like stepping right into a scene straight out of Nineties Japan.
Main the parade was the well-known inexperienced, D1GP Bride AE86, pushed by its unique builder, Ryota ‘Crash King’ Yuasa, who had been flown over from Japan by Neil Sheehan from Juicebox.
After promoting the automotive practically 20 years in the past, Yuasa-san misplaced monitor of it, and it was finally parted out and left in a discipline. In 2021, the long-lasting Levin coupe was rebuilt by its present proprietor, Paddy Connors. Neil and his mates introduced Yuasa-san’s story full circle, having him drive the automotive at 86 Fest, the place he was greeted as a star.
Yuasa-san spent the day signing autographs and taking photographs, ending with an emotional second as he signed the boot lid, simply as he did earlier than he offered the automotive.
Subsequent to the Bride automotive was one other legend: the Bee*R AE86. This automotive was constructed and as soon as owned by Bee*R’s late proprietor Kiyonori Imai. Even among the many wide-bodied automobiles, the black Levin coupe stood out with its huge 1-inch spaced and widened entrance fenders.
Neil Sheehan’s black Trueno hatchback, famend worldwide after its rebuild on the Juiceboxforyou YouTube channel, was additionally current, now sporting bronze RAYS Volk Racing TE37s and a Goodline bumper impressed by Katsuhiro Ueo’s early ’00s D1GP Storage Sift Trueno.
Whereas AE86s had been the celebrities, the parade lap featured different Toyota fashions like the brand new 86, JZXs, Carinas, older Corollas, and Starlets.
The occasion highlighted Eire’s Japanese import automotive increase of the early 2000s, which resulted in a outstanding neighborhood and quite a few uncommon and distinctive automobiles and elements.
This Toyota-centric present has piqued my curiosity in attending occasions in Eire to uncover what different JDM automobiles are hidden in sheds throughout the Emerald Isle.
For now although, there are lots extra photographs from 86 Fest Eire 2024 so that you can take a look at beneath.
Collin Tiemens
Instagram:Â collinclicksphotos
