Blog posts have taken a back seat. It seems the blog has died, and now photography feels like it’s under attack due to tik-tok and reels. In a few years, it feels like photography will be utterly pointless on social media as we move towards a more on-the-fly video type of consumption. Regardless, I love shooting photos and have always enjoyed documenting friends’ cars and such.
In this episode, we update you on the AE86, enjoy some misery with the March, and have fun with a Rusty Micra.
Jumping over 4A-GE’s and the Trueno wiring begins. There is plenty of immature action in this episode, with some interesting information about AE86 production numbers.
A Hidden shed Tour! We take a look at a freshly built AE86 Levin and a shed full of Japanese classics.
YES! Parts and magazines Arrive at JDM Distro from our Japan in a Van trip, making it one of the best days ever at work.
Here are some photos from the time we drove down to Group D. Group D is the brainchild of Darren McNamara, a well-known legend in the Drift scene. Darren has been tinkering with Corollas for a long time, and he developed a rear coil-over suspension for the AE86 with a company from the UK called AVO. You have probably seen the vlog episode from this day, with the old legend and his lovely little starlet. I had a mega backlog of photos from older episodes that I will throw up on the site every Friday. Enjoy the images of the day below.
We are very fortunate to have people like MR X in the car community. For years, he has been supplying the AE86 community with much sought after parts. He has been breaking Corollas for parts for well over ten years, and it is a necessary evil, sometimes it’s sad to see cool cars he has killed, but most of the time, every last piece of that car ends helping another.
We go AE86 parts hunting at MR X’s stash to find the missing bits for the Trueno build. We also get a quick look at MR X’s private collection.
If my younger self could see me now! That young freckly fucker obsessing over Gran Turismo 2, sitting in his room listening to that smooth jazz menu music, looking at cars he had never heard of in the used car garage. Here I am, many years later, still chasing the dream, still into the same stuff I was back then! I think my younger self would be buzzing to see the space I have in the shed with sound friends, a few rusty Japanese shit heaps, a few bikes, skateboards and silly bits pushing on into my 30s. It’s not much, but I try not to take it for granted, best to enjoy the ride. This night made me incredibly happy.
Feeling adventurous around Fuji and slightly refreshed after a somewhat questionable sleep, we decided to head for the famous Hakone turnpike. Luck was not on our side with this one. It turned out the peak was in the clouds, so we didn’t see a whole lot at the top. I bet there are spectacular views in the daytime, maybe next time!
Car factory Ai is one of the most excellent ae86 shops in Japan. Its owned by a woman called Ai Koizumi hence the name, and they maintain and run the newer hot version Keichi Tsuchiya N2 Levin you might have seen from time to time.
So we are finishing our in-depth photo series on the 2019 Okayama Hachiroku festival with the race cars in the pit area and the final parade lap around the circuit in the rain. I’m skimming the words accompanying these features as I feel we have said more than enough in the videos.
The photos are for people to save and hopefully inspire or give fellow owners an idea or two; that’s why we all lurk these photos at the end of the day. It’s hard to stop a video and see all this stuff in one go. I always like taking pictures to further look at the line to appreciate this stuff at a much slower pace. And I’m trying to knock this stuff out whilst finish the video series, its the most content I’ve ever produced for Juiebox in such a short amount of time.
Some people think blogs are dead, but I do enjoy a good blog post about a particular event; it what I spent most of my time doing for the last fifteen or so years when hunting for car-related content, and I hope these articles bring a little bit of that to you.
Let’s move onto the display area that was up in the main entrance. It appeared to be an old go-kart track set up to display a couple of hundred epic road cars. I’m laughing as I put this article together; I can distinctly remember the panic looking at these cars.
The display is hidden from sight as you make your way up from the central car park. It catches you off guard, and you are left trying to figure out what path to navigate 200 plus epic road-going AE86’s. I’ve broken this into two parts so a fellow Corolla enthusiast can digest each piece.
After drooling at Endless, we made our way to Impulse. These shops are in the Hyogo area and about a twenty-minute drive from each other.
As we mentioned in the video, taking the back roads is the most fun. You never know what’s hiding down a side street. This AE86 pair was a pleasant surprise; both looked like they hadn’t moved in quite some time, and it stopped us in our tracks. I guess this stuff is still out there to find!
Barry is back to cut the rust out of the AE86. Jackie calls down to apply fresh seam-seal the vulnerable parts of the Trueno! More progress and fewer distractions with this one.