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3 hours of Shakotan Boogie Anime – Friday Video

December 1, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

I have been dreaming about this for years now, and now finally, someone took the effort to upload the Shakotan Boogie anime to Youtube! You may wonder why this is such a big deal, so let me explain to you what Shakotan Boogie is, why I have yearned for this and why it is great to have it on Youtube!

What is Shakotan Boogie?

Shakotan Boogie (シャコタン★ブギ) started as a Manga in Weekly Young Magazine in 1986 and remained serialized until 1996. It’s a manga about two boys, Hajime Yamamoto and Koji Watanabe, who are into zokusha and the whole subculture around it. This is closely related to the Bosozoku, but they aren’t the same.

The two boys are car-crazy and they drive around in a blue and white Toyota Soarer Z10 on SSR Mk Is. This car has become so iconic that it became the stereotypical Soarer for many people who are into zokusha. Similar to what the panda-Trueno is for Initial D fans.

If you are unfamiliar with zokusha, these are heavily modified cars that generally mimic race cars from the 1970s and early 1980s. These cars are then modified with big over fenders, wings, spoilers and wide wheels. I have done quite a lot of posts about zokusha in the past and you can find more information here.

Why am I so excited about this?

First of all, it is difficult to obtain original Shakotan Boogie VHS cassettes from Yahoo Auctions. These tapes are rare and most of the time overpriced. Even though I have a VCR somewhere in my attic, I don’t have anything to connect to. My VCR has composite and S-video out, but I only have screens that require HDMI input. And I have no idea what the quality of these tapes would be.

I could obtain some bootleg SVCDs or DVDs, but these are in a different region and are in Japanese without subtitles. It would be very difficult to watch and follow for a non-native speaker.

Why are you so happy it’s on Youtube?

I’m so happy someone uploaded it to Youtube, because all videos uploaded over the past few years automatically had a transcript created. This means Youtube has tried to transcribe the Japanese language in the video. If you enable captions on a Japanese language video, you can select to have the (automatic) Japanese transcript translated by Google Translate.

It’s not the best transcript as it makes mistakes. Also, the translation isn’t the best translation you can get and it doesn’t capture cultural aspects in these captions. But at least it’s understandable for non-native Japanese speakers. And the cultural aspects, I can understand them myself!

Shakotan Boogie video

And finally, here’s the video:

The video looks a bit blurry and this is because it has been captured from old VHS tapes. Enjoy almost 3 hours of Shakotan Boogie!

What's the story of the BRE Hino Samurai?

Cutaway BRE Hino Samurai – Picture of the Week

November 30, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

If you never heard from the BRE Hino Samurai, you’re not alone! I did read about it years ago, but I forgot about it until I spotted this awesome cutaway drawing by Takashi Jufuku!

Cutaway drawing of the BRE Hino Samurai by Takashi Jufuku

You may be familiar with Brock Racing Enterprises (BRE) with the Datsun connection. However, before Peter Brock joined forces with Nissan on that endeavour, he first created the Samurai for Hino Motors. This is completely unrelated to the Hino DSL RSB race car!

Hino History in a nutshell

Back in the 1960s, Hino Motors was still a passenger car manufacturer and they were churning out Hino Contessas by the masses. In my opinion, the Hino Contessa is one of the most beautiful cars ever to be made in Japan. My opinion doesn’t just limit itself to the beautifully styled Contessa Sprint and Contessa Coupe, also the basic four-door Contessa’s are almost equally beautiful! I really must create a blog post about the Contessa soon. But I digress…

Hino Contessa Coupe: one of the most beautiful Japanese cars ever made!

Let’s build a condensed Contessa timeline first. Before Hino built the Contessa, Hino built the Renauld 4CV in license between 1947 and 1961. By the end of the 1950s, when the 4CV became outdated, Hino started the development of their own car and based it on the components it had at hand. This meant the Contessa’s underpinnings and engine were largely based upon the 4CV. The first generation Contessa PC was designed by Michelotti and was a true piece of art. Naturally Hino returned to Michelotti to design its successor, the Contessa PD, which was built from 1964 onwards. By 1964, Hino started to export cars abroad including the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia. By 1969 the curtain fell for the Contessa as Hino was forced to merge with Toyota by the Japanese government.

The BRE Hino Samurai

Naturally, exports meant racing aspirations as well. Bob Dunham, an American actor living in Japan, wanted a race car based upon the Contessa and contracted Peter Brock to make one. Due to its success, Hino invited Peter Brock to test their new Contessa coupé. In 1966 Peter Brock raced a Hino Contessa coupé successfully in the Riverside Raceway and this made the ties even closer.

Hino asked Peter Brock to build a genuine prototype race car for them that could enter the Japanese Grand Prix in 1967 and also compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans. Peter Brock created the BRE Hino Samurai and based it around the 1300cc engine of the Hino Contessa. It was an aluminium-bodied car that sat on a tubular steel frame. The Samurai was entered in the Japanese Grand Prix in 1967, but unfortunately disqualified due to ground clearance. The car also never competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans as shortly after the Japanese Grand Prix the president of Hino died and all support for the racing program vanished as well. The Samurai was shipped to the US where it competed regularly in various US races.

I’m very thankful to both Hino and Peter Brock for creating such a wonderful little car. Let’s hope the Samurai one day emerges back into this world from its Southern Californian lockup that it’s supposed to be.

Getting screwed by Trueno AE86 screwdrivers – WTF?!

November 29, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

When I saw the packaging of these Trueno AE86 screwdrivers my first thought was that it was a set of 86 screwdrivers. You know, like all those other 80-piece screwdriver set or 100-piece drill attachment set. The 86 in the name obviously refers to the AE86, so it’s a set of 4. Four screwdrivers for 64 dollars? That’s insane! Are these made of platinum? Or perhaps made of recycled boro Trueno AE86 drift missile body panels?

This Levin AE86 got one up to 87 in 88! – Family Album Treasures

November 28, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

What is the most comfortable place of your Levin AE86? What’s the best intake on your Levin AE86? Flat out in your engine bay of course!

Sorry for these bad puns, but I just had to make them!

License plate

This nearly brand new kouki (facelift) AE86 from Osaka is one up with its 87 license plate in February 1988! Now the big mystery is whether it’s a 1987 car or that the 87 license plate is a coincidence. Next to the license plate, it has got a double set of fog lights: über rare OEM GT Apex fog lights in the grill and two Cibié 35 / Airport.

Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 with N2 over fenders

What looks better on a Carina? N2 or zokusha fender flares? – Carina Sightings

November 27, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Fender flares will give you the ability for a much wider track than with your standard OEM fenders. Fender flares range from the simple bolt-on types as introduced on the Hakosuka Skyline to the bizarre wide creations of the Group 5 and N2 racing. Zokusha were copying racing designs, hence a lot of the zokusha have giant wide fender flares. I found this Toyota Carina GT-R AA63 from Okinawa on Cartune and it actually featured both N2 and zokusha fender flares. So my question to you: N2 or zokusha fender flares?

N2 style

I’ll first start with the N2 Style (not to be confused with the N-style) fender flares:

The N2 used to be a one-make racing series in the 1980s and early 1990s where it was based upon the FIA Group N rules. In Japan, the Group N was already driven as the N1 series which later became the Super Taikyu Series. N2 started out as a racing series organized by Toyota to have the Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 and Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 compete against each other. Keiichi Tsuchiya, who just graduated from the Fuji Freshman series, wanted to join the series but was denied entry because he wasn’t an established driver yet.

Abandoned rusty two-door Sprinter Trueno AE86

Two-door Trueno AE86 hidden in the foliage – Japanese Rustoseums

November 26, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

It is always sad to see a forgotten or neglected car. It’s bad if the car in question is parked up for a long time and is showing signs of rust and decay. It’s even worse if the car is slowly being consumed by the foliage around it. This two-door Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 is one such car!

Eaten by the foliage

The Minkara user mitanimomo investigated this neglected Trueno left behind in the fields. The owner could not be traced and, just like the car, the house next to it was abandoned.

The Trueno appears to be original panda, which would indicate it’s a GT Apex model. The doily lace covers are still on the seats. And it seems to be sitting on Work Equip Casting 4 spoke rims.