Author: banpei (Page 27 of 318)

Is the rotating Suzuki Alto seat the most sexist thing?

September 20, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw this Suzuki Alto CA71 with a rotating driver seat. It didn’t drop to the floor because it is weird or odd (yet it is!), but actually because the ad suggests it as a sexist thing! How can a swiveling chair be a sexist thing? Are we talking pervert-levers here? No we are not! Let me explain why…

Which Suzuki Alto is which

The second generation Suzuki Alto was, just like the first generation, a two door version of the Suzuki Fronte. In this second generation a huge list of trim levels were available, ranging from the simple basic to the Alto Works RS-R. I’m not going to name all of them, but the most important ones today are the Juna, Regina and Femina. As the names suggest, these are the trim levels that were aimed towards female drivers. This doesn’t mean they all feature this rotating driver seat though.

What is this rotating driver seat then?

Now let’s examine the magazine advertisement:

What do we see? We see the interior of a Suzuki Alto and/or Fronte. The front driver seat has been rotated towards where normally the door of the car would have been. A rough translation of the advertisement headline is as following: Japan’s first rotating driver’s seat for easy entry and exit. I’ll drive deeper into the translations of the other bits and pieces later on.

Easy entry and exit doesn’t sound too sexists, right? No it doesn’t. However, I’m not only talking about the rotating driver seat in the pamphlet I put up here, but also the Suzuki Alto advertisements from the same model and era.

Japanese Suzuki Alto advertisements

The Japanese Suzuki Alto advertisements are an interesting bunch. They target different audiences for the same car, hence they use the acress Asami Kobayashi (小林麻美) for the female audience. One such advertisement is this one:

You can see in this video the rotating driver seat in action. The rotating driver seat feels like Suzuki is saying “women have difficulty entering a car and we solved it!”. On a side node, the Suzuki Alto Femina was also called the Asami Special. The other adverts like the Alto Works and Alto Twin Cam RS were not by her and featured a much more male tone.

So is this the only advert featuring the rotating driver seat? No, there actually were a couple more: the Alto Street and a more generic Alto advertisement featured it.

Suzuki Alto Street

Another Suzuki Alto ad is this Alto Street ad where Asami Kobayashi pretends to be a photographer and at 0:13 the rotating driver seat is actually used as a base to sit and make photos from:

So yeah it could be used for a different purpose…

Suzuki Alto Juna

So what about the Suzuki Alto Juna? It did feature the rotating driver seat, but strangely enough in all Suzuki Alto Juna advertisements it is absent.

The 1986 Alto Juna ad:

The 1987 Alto Juna ad:

The Alto Juna Special Edition:

Strangely enough none of the Suzuki Alto Juna in the ads above doesn’t feature it, but the Japanese Wikipedia page says it does!

Ordinary Suzuki Alto ad

Also the ordinary Suzuki Alto CA71 isn’t safe from the rotating driver seat:

No swiveling driver seat

However, as I mentioned earlier, not all Suzuki Altos that were targeted towards female drivers feature the swiveling driver seat. From the pamphlet I understood it was an option on the base model. Judging from the ads it was probably standard on the Alto Femina, Alto Juna and Alto Street. At first I assumed it featured as standard on all specially (women) targeted models, but this wasn’t the case as the Alto Regina ad below shows you!

The Suzuki Alto Regina features a special bench seat to allow the creation of a large two person bed inside the Alto (why would you need that for?). Naturally it doesn’t feature the swiveling driver seat either. As the Regina comes with a bench seat it also features a column operated 2 speed automatic to make room for the bench.

No more Boleros

Finally I also have a Suzuki Alto Femina ad that is totally unrelated to the swivel seat. However, I would still like to share it:

The music in this ad is Love is in your eyes performed by the Dutch singer Gerard Joling, which is another connection for me as a fellow Dutchman

Why is this rotating driver seat sexist?

Let’s get into the translation of the pamphlet. I found a source with a Suzuki Alto pamphlet featuring the swiveling driver seat. This pamphlet clears up a couple of things and at the same time it doesn’t and brings up even more questions. For instance:
日本初、乗り降りのラクな回転ドライバーズシート – Japan’s first rotating driver’s seat for easy getting on and off
So this is the first Japanese car to feature this type of seat.

運転席がそのまま60度右に回転。スマートでラクな乗降ができます。ヒューマン設計から生まれた、日本初の装備です (L.C タイプ) *国産車(特殊車は除く) – The driver’s seat rotates 60 degrees to the right. You can get on and off smartly and easily. Japan’s first equipment born from human design (L.C type) * Domestic cars (excluding special cars)

女っぽく、人間ぼく。ヒューマンなヒューマンなニューアルト新登場。- I’m feminine and human. Introducing the new human human Alto.
ファッショナブルなボディライン。- Fashionable body line.
すみずみまて生かされた女性中心のヒューマン設計。- A female-centered human design that makes the most of every corner.
人間どうしの気分てつきあえるクルマてす。- A car that makes you feel like you are humans.

What do I make of it?

So what do I make of all this? The rotating seat was created with the intention to serve female drivers alone. The pamphlet simply doesn’t mention it was created with the male body in mind. No, it specifically mentions it was created with the female body in mind. But why? Men could also profit from a rotating driver seat! Especially older men would love to get a bit more assistance getting in and out of a car.

So if it was created with the female body in mind, why was it done this way? Are women for some reason physically less able to get in and out of a car? From the human body’s perspective they are not. So why then? Then there must be an external factor why they can’t… (I know you all are shouting the answer already…)

The only viable answer I could come up with is dresses and skirts. Men (at least most of them) don’t wear dresses or skirts. If you are male, imagine you enter a car. One foot first into the footwell, then you move your ass into the seat and then your second leg will follow into the footwell. Now imagine what will happen to your legs when you wear a skirt. In that moment between moving your ass into the seat and moving your second leg, there will be a (brief) moment when your legs are spread. Anyone passing by might be able to catch a glimpse of what’s under that dress or skirt. Yes indeed: this rotating driver seat is to allow female drivers to enter a car in dignity! If only the Mercedes Benz SLR featured one, it would have saved Britney from some incident.

Smallish 9 year Toyota Carina update

September 18, 2023 / banpei / 0 Comments

Actually this is a big Toyota Carina update! The title is an understatement and was a bit of irony as there has a lot happened in the past few years. I should first briefly explain the the things that happened and go into those things later in depth in additional posts. So what happened to my plans to swap in the bits of a Celica AA63? What happened to the JDM front?

What happened to the Toyota Carina?

I think I dropped off in November 2014 with updating on the Toyota Carina right when I installed a set of Celica Supra seats and mid-2015 I bought a JDM Carina bumper that was wrongly delivered into the Netherlands. The latter story I posted in a vlog, but as the video has since disappeared I also removed the blog post here.

*The JDM Carina GT bumper I bought in 2014*

Due to circumstances the Carina was used less and less frequent. This caused the left front brake pads to get stuck in 2017. I noticed this due to the smell of overheated pads while driving in traffic jam. I quickly left the highway, but strangely the problem disappeared before I could diagnose it. Maybe they got unstuck once the pads cooled down enough. Take notice of this.

In 2019 I de-JDM-ized the rear tail lights by installing NOS European units to make the Carina pass APK inspection (the Dutch MOT equivalent which I will name MOT from now on) and stored them in my attic to be repaired. This will get its own follow up series of posts as I want to install them on the Carina once more.

*De-JDM-izing my Toyota Carina, left European and right JDM tail lights*

Brake pads overheat once more

In late 2019 I also made a short trip to the Utrecht office of the company I used to work for back then. During this trip I suffered once again from a stuck front brake pad. However, this time the brake fluid started to boil and I had to make an emergency stop using the handbrake. As you can understand this was a bit freighting and sketchy. The ANWB (Dutch roadside assistance) helped me out and fixed it temporarily. A rebuild of the front disk brakes was necessary, so I put the Carina back into the garage with the intention to fix it early 2020. As we all know 2020 was a very interesting year and the Carina remained parked in the garage including the majority of 2021.

Second time the brake pad got stuck on my Toyota Carina — The second time the brake pads got stuck on my Toyota Carina

Sourcing brake caliper rebuild sets

In 2021 the MOT would expire as it is a bi-annual check. This meant I had to do something about the stuck break pad issue and decided to go for a rebuild. I made a call to the local Toyota dealer (it was amidst a lockdown, so I couldn’t visit them in person) to order a rebuild set. Then I was told one such set would cost 80 euros and I would need two of them as I would need one per caliper.

I tried sourcing the same two sets and found Amayama offered it including EMS air shipping for the same price of a single set at the local Toyota dealer. Normally I would rather get it from the Toyota dealer, but 80 euros is a lot of money and I opted for Amayama instead. Unfortunately Amayama sent the package to the wrong customer in Miami. Amiyama had to source the kits once more and the second package only arrived in early December. That meant I had to de-register the Carina as it clearly wouldn’t pass the MOT test before expiry of its current MOT. When they did arrive, it turned out the rebuild kit was actually meant for both sides.

Rebuild kit for the Toyota Carina brake calipers — *Rebuild kits for the Toyota Carina brake calipers finally arrived in December*

Life happens

Then life happened end of 2021: my dad got hospitalized and I lost my dad early 2022. Devastated about this loss and also partly the anger due to some not-so-well-arrangements-by-my-dad I decided it was time to sell the Carina. Let it go. Get something else instead. Something that wouldn’t remind me of my dad. So I decided to fix it up, pass MOT and then sell it.

Trying to pass MOT attempts #1 and #2

I set to work: rebuilt the brakes, replaced filters and fluids, fixed minor issues like worn wiper blades. By the end of 2022 I was done with the repairs. However, the Carina didn’t manage to pass the MOT test: brake balance was incorrect, headlights were misaligned (how did that happen?), exhaust was leaking and the rear brake lines had rust on them. I rebuilt the left brake once more. Fixed the headlight alignment. Patched up the exhaust with putty and removed the rust from the rear brake lines. Went for the test once more and now tester refused to test the car as the brake pedal didn’t have any feel in it. Apparently some air bubbles were present in the brake lines. I was so angry that I threw the towel in the ring and decided to try once more early 2023.

*Patching up the exhaust with some putty*

Trying to pass MOT attempt #3

Early May 2023 I put the Toyota Carina for sale. It had no MOT as an oldtimer gathering would happen in my hometown and I had to wait at least 3 weeks for the first available spot. However, I already wanted to drum up interest for the sale as I estimated it probably would take a few months to sell. So I put the Carina for sale without MOT. Against expectations it quickly gained a lot of interest and my inbox flooded with various messages. One person visited me to view the car and he was interested to buy. We agreed he would test drive the Carina once it had MOT. The week after the Carina was able to pass MOT without a problem, however I was still not satisfied with the performance of the brakes. I once more invested time and finally found the issue!

Still not satisfied with the brakes

The problem is that my bleeding nipples are old and don’t seal 100% when I undid them. I was pulling the brake fluid through the caliper with a vacuum system. In the open position, I noticed sometimes a few small bubbles appeared and I would leave it to flush everything out. However, apparently it always happened when the nipples were almost in the closed position. So, when I close the bleeding nipple it would draw in a small bubble of air into the system. I removed the nipples, put some thick grease on them and inserted them back in again and the problem was solved. In preparation I washed the car thoroughly. I also filled up the tank with 20 liters of premium Euro 98 (contains less than 5% of ethanol) to ensure the few remaining liters of old stale petrol wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

First wash of the Toyota Carina in 5 years! — *First wash of the Carina in 5 years!*

Trying to sell the Toyota Carina

During the weekend after obtaining MOT the test drive with the prospect buyer took place. At first everything went smooth: the Carina started up fine. The prospect buyer took the wheel and we set off for the test drive. I told him just to take it easy, drive around town, drive up the highway, exit on the next offramp and then return home via a couple of B-roads. We drove around town, took the highway and then at the next offramp the engine stalled.

The engine wouldn’t start and when I looked at the dashboard my heart sank: the temperature needle was even beyond the red-zone. The engine had overheated for an unknow reason. We called the ANWB and after 30 minutes they arrived. They suspected a head gasket failure. The ANWB tried to revive the engine by filling it with fresh coolant and K-Seal, but it was too far gone. The Carina ended up being brought back home on top of a flatbed truck.

*My Carina returns home on a flatbed truck*

A simple engine repair job

On Monday I headed out to the oldtimer workshop nearest to my garage and made arrangements to get the headgasket fixed. It wouldn’t be cheap, but the repair job would be straightforward. The mechanic was a bit skeptical and warned me the head probably would be warped and possibly cracked. So he asked me to try and source a replacement head if possible. The mechanic set to work and by the end of the week he called me with some bad news: the head was cracked and the radiator was leaking. The latter was probably the cause for coolant loss. This was causing the engine to overheat, blow the head gasket and then fail entirely. This was a good lesson that MOT doesn’t mean the car is in good condition. If a car without coolant can pass MOT, it means they only check for what is required and not anything else.

Shopping list

So now a replacement head and radiator were on my shopping list. The next week my mechanic called me back: he double checked the engine block and found out that it had warped as well. He asked me if I could source a replacement engine for a Toyota Carina.

*Both the engine block and head turned out to be warped*

This made me seriously doubt whether to proceed with repairing the Carina as an engine would be much more expensive. And obviously I had to source one first. This turned out to be an issue and nobody keeps a 2T engine. So in the end I couldn’t find a 2T engine, but I was able to source a replacement 2T-B engine. That’s close enough, but there are a couple of differences: the 2T engine has lower compression than the 2T-B and only features a single carburetor while the 2T-B features them in duplicate. The seller guaranteed it was 100% working when he pulled it out of a Celica. At the same time I could also source a brand new radiator for peanuts. 15 euros of Peanuts that is. So I decided to go ahead, rip out that broken engine and get it replaced with another!

Carina spiraling out of control

When we picked up the engine, it turned out to be freely moving. Compression of the cylinders was good. There was a little bit of compression deviation between the cylinders, but nothing to worry about. We paid and brought the engine home. When the engine cover was lifted we found a big surprise: oil sludge everywhere! It looked like as if someone forgot to drain the engine oil and had been topping up the engine for over 10 years!

We found thick oil sludge in the replacement engine — *We found thick oil sludge everywhere in this replacement 2T-B engine!*

Cleaning up the sludge

Luckily once the engine was cleaned it turned out to be in far better condition than mine was before the headgasket blew. There was little to no scoring on the cylinder walls, the head was in very good condition and the cam had little to no wear. Regardless of its looks, this was a true unstressed engine. So never judge an engine by its looks!

The cleaned up 2T-B engine turned out to be in excellent condition

Happy or unhappy with the repair?

I was very happy and relieved when the rebuilt engine finally was dropped back into the Carina. Naturally I was a bit less happy with the bill for the entire rebuild. If I still wanted to sell the Carina, I could increase the sales prices of the Carina a bit to make up for this loss. However, this couldn’t be done for the entire bill. If I would do that, the Carina would be way too expensive for what it is currently. There is rust on the fenders, there is rust on the inside of the front doors and there is de-lamination on the windscreen. Nobody sane enough would pay a high price for a car in this state.

So it wouldn’t be sales worthy unless I would fix this all up. But if I would do that, that also means I first have to invest even more money without the warranty to find a buyer. So what’s the use of fixing up a car if you’re not even sure you can sell it? The answer to that is: only if you want to keep it! So I made up my mind once more and decided I’ll keep the Carina, fix the rust issues, replace the windscreen and then turn it into a kyusha-kai Carina like I intended all those years ago.

*A Toyota Carina GT-R running in the 90s!* *Will mine finally look like this in the future?*

Captain hindsight is always right

In hindsight, I probably better could have sold the Carina with the blown head gasket than go through this whole ordeal. For that price with a bit more cash I also could have swapped in an entire 4A-GE and T50 drivetrain into the Carina. However, I still think I made the right decision. It’s clear the Carina didn’t want me to give up on it. I’ll finally go through with the transformation. I could even make the engine a bit more lively as it’s technically a 2T-B engine with a single carb on top. Besides that, I can always do the 4A-GE swap sometime in the future. The most important part is that it now is mobile again!

So what can you expect from me in the (near) future? First of all in my next post about the Carina I’ll lay down my plans for it. I will also post some parts of the story above with some more juicy details. Finally I’ve already started on repairing the JDM tail lights and I’ll use the blogs to document the technical side of this.

What was the factory AE86 Sports Package all about?

July 9, 2021 / banpei / 1 Comment

With it’s 1980s sharp lines the AE86 already is a good looking car from the factory. Some people like to go one step further and dress it up with a Run Free or J-Blood body kit. You can even compliment that with a TRD ducktail spoiler. These body kits and spoilers are an evolution of the optional factory AE86 Sports Package.

This package changed over the years many times, but mainly consisted of a set of spoilers and side skirts.

So what was this package? When did it become available? How did it change over time? What did it cost? Why wasn’t it available outside Japan? And why are these parts still sought after today and fetch insane prices? I recently made a video about the AE86 Sports Package and this blog post is basically the script I wrote to create this video. Join me down the AE86 rabbit hole and learn everything about the factory Sports Package!

Pre-facelift AE86 Sports Package in Japan

When both the Levin and Trueno AE86 were introduced in 1983, there was no Sports Package available. There wasn’t even a single spoiler included in the dealer accessories. In the Levin and Trueno brochures at launch both lacked the Sports Package that was present in later brochures. The Sports Package only became available in August/September 1983 and that’s when the brochure was adjusted. At first the Levin and Trueno brochures received only a subtle update and those changes were hardly noticeable. But place them side by side and you will notice they actually have changed a lot: the Levin got gold striping on the grille, the door mirrors are more streamlined, the alloy wheels changed and yes there are front and rear spoilers! And the same applies to the Trueno brochure.

In August 1984 the Levin brochure received a second revamp and was dressed up more seriously like the Trueno brochure with Hirumi Go doing workouts. For as much you can call doing workouts being more serious than jumping into a pool.

The Sports Package was initially only available on the GT Apex, 3 door GT-V and 2 door GT trim levels. It featured an artificial leather steering wheel, genuine leather wrapped gear shift knob and a front and rear spoiler. The front spoiler actually is an air dam, front lip or front splitter, but we’ll call it a spoiler as that’s how almost all Toyota brochures call it. The rear spoiler adds weight, so stiffer springs and dampers were installed on the hatch or bootlid on the models with these.

The first version of the pre-facelift / zenki AE86 sports package

Shortly after the sports package became available, a set of the famous side skirts were added to the package. As the side skirts are mounted over the inner fenders, the front mud flaps won’t fit anymore. This is why cars with the Sports Package only have rear mud flaps.

The revised version of the pre-facelift / zenki AE86 sports package

Facelifted AE86 Sports Package in Japan

After the facelift in May 1985 the new front bumper received an integrated air dam, so the separate front spoiler is no longer offered. New options in the package were blue colored door mirror glass and yellow halogen headlamps. The Sports Package was now extended to the SR trim level, and this meant new parts had to be added to the package. The mudflaps were previously standard on the GT Apex, SR and SE trim levels but now became optional for the GT-V and GT trim levels.

The facelifted AE86 sports package for the Toyota Sprinter Trueno

The GT Apex was already pretty much specc-ed out as it featured the mud flaps, artificial leather wrapped steering wheel, leather gear shift knob and velours sport seats by default. The pre-facelift package on the GT Apex already included a rear spoiler, side skirts, so the new package only added the yellow halogen headlamps.

The facelifted / kouki Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 GT Apex

The GT and GT-V trim levels were more basic, for instance by default only the GT-V featured the sports seats. The pre-facelift already featured the side skirts, artificial leather wrapped steering wheel, leather gear shift knob and a set of mud flaps. The new package added yellow halogen headlamps and blue colored door mirror glass to the mix.

The SR trim level by itself lacked almost all luxury. The new SR Sports Package added the rear spoiler, mud flaps, yellow halogen headlamps, blue colored door mirror glass, artificial leather wrapped steering wheel, genuine leather wrapped gear shift knob, alloy wheels and the same sports seats as found in the GT-V could be added. If you paid close attention you would have noticed the side skirts were not available on the SR trim level. This also meant the SR Sports Package featured mud flaps both front and rear, while the others didn’t.

The facelifted / kouki Toyota Levin AE85 SR with the Sports Package

There is one more honorable mention here: the Toyota Sprinter Trueno Black Limited featured the Sports Package by default. Yes the Black Limited really was the ultimate trim level and no option was spared! Apart from the Black Limited gold and amber theme, there was no significant difference between the GT Apex Sports Package and the Black Limited Sports Package.

The Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 Black Limited featured the Sports Package by default

The AE86 Sports Package outside Japan

Now you may wonder if there were any Sports Packages available outside Japan. The short answer is no: there were no Sports Packages available outside Japan. At least, not if you ignore the aftermarket German Haslbeck trim that became a dealer option in Germany. However the long answer is that some parts of the Sports Package were made available as standard items or as optional upgrades.

USA and Canada

The USDM and Canadian AE86 featured various options. The mud flaps were already standard on the GT-S trim level and available as an option on the SR5 trim level. The pre-facelift GT-S featured a front spoiler standard and trunk spoiler as optional on the GT-S. This front spoiler isn’t the same as the Japanese though: it’s not a separate part but actually an integral part of the entire front bumper assembly.

The USDM / Canadian Toyota Corolla GT-S with integral front spoiler assembly

With the facelift kicking in only months after the launch, the front spoiler remained standard on the GT-S. Strangely enough the facelifted GT-S lacked the rear spoiler as an option, and it doesn’t appear to be present in the press photos and brochures.

Funnily enough the facelifted USDM / Canadian Corolla GT-S didn't feature the rear spoiler — Funnily enough the facelifted USDM / Canadian Corolla GT-S didn’t feature the rear spoiler

Australia

The Australian Corolla Sprinter can best be described as the SR5 from the US and Canada with a Levin body. Australia was one of the first countries to sell the AE86 right from the launch in May 1983. Unfortunately this also meant their Sprinter AE86 didn’t get any of the items in the Sports Package with the first batch. The Sprinter was for sale till August 1985 and there are no records that indicate spoilers or side skirts were added after August 1983.

Europe

The countries that sold the eight-six in no particular order are: UK, Ireland, France, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Canary Islands. As the European countries imported their AE86-es separately there were a couple of differences. I’ll name these separately, so right here I’ll discuss what they all had in common.

In general most of the European countries started selling the Corolla GT or GTi Coupé after August 1983 and thus got the front and rear spoiler included in the package. These two spoilers are the exact same as the ones available for the Japanese Levin. I have seen a few European pre-facelift panda eight-sixes with sideskirts, but there is no documentation to back that the pre-facelift models received side skirts. In some countries mudflaps were available as standard or option.

The European pre-facelift / zenki Toyota Corolla AE86 didn't get any side skirts — The European pre-facelift / zenki Toyota Corolla AE86 didn’t get any side skirts

After the facelift arrived in August 1985, the side skirts got included in some countries but not all of them. What’s also new is the inclusion of a separate front spoiler that differs from the pre-facelift front spoiler. This front spoiler is unique to Europe and wasn’t available in Japan.

The European facelifted / kouki Toyota Corolla AE86 got an unique front spoiler — The European facelifted / kouki Toyota Corolla AE86 did get side skirts and a front and boot spoiler

Germany

In Germany the two door Corolla GT was launched in November 1983 and was sold similar to the two door Japanese GT Apex but only included the front spoiler. Maybe this was done to increase sales on the Haslbeck trim that was sold as a dealer option. This trim included a different front and rear spoiler and also different side skirts.

The German pre-facelift / zenki Toyota Corolla AE86 only got a front spoiler and mud flaps

Only after the facelift Toyota Germany added the rear spoiler and side skirts to the standard trim and the new front spoiler was included as well.

The German facelifted / kouki Toyota Corolla AE86 got a front spoiler, side skirts and bootlid spoiler

The Netherlands, Belgium and Finland

At the launch in June 1983 in The Netherlands, Belgium and Finland there was no front spoiler. Somewhere in July or August the front spoiler was added to the standard trim, but already some dealers stocked up cars without a front spoiler. Just like in Germany, the rear spoiler was missing on these two door models.

The Finnish pre-facelift / zenki Toyota Corolla AE86 only got a front spoiler and mud flaps

After the facelift also the rear spoiler, sideskirts and the separate front lip were included.

Switzerland

Switzerland is another special case. From August 1983 onwards the Corolla SR coupé was sold. This coupé was equal to the Australian Sprinter SR, with the difference that it also included the Sports Package front and rear spoiler.

The Swiss pre-facelift Toyota Corolla SR AE86 did get a set of spoilers

In February 1985 the Corolla SR coupé was replaced by the pre-facelift Corolla Coupé GTi and it included the front spoiler and rear spoiler. The Haslbeck trim was optional and included side skirts.

The Swiss pre-facelift Toyota Corolla GTi AE86 got spoilers and a Haslbeck trim

The facelifted GTi arrived during the summer 1985 and only included the Sports Package rear spoiler and the new European front spoiler.

Other countries

The three door AE86 was also sold in the Canary Islands, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal and Greece. I have no documentation from these countries, so it’s impossible to say for certain if these countries also included the same front spoiler, rear spoiler or side skirts from the Sports Package. I did find photos of Portugese cars including the new front lip, so my best guess is that they did.

A Portuguese facelifted Corolla GT AE86 with the European front spoiler

It’s also difficult to tell what items featured on the cars that were sold in other countries as those were all really low volume sales.

Conclusion

The infamous Japanese Sports Package really was a strange option to begin with: you had to order it before the manufacturing of your AE86 began. Just like the type of alloy wheels, sunroof or power windows. In Japan there were also dealer-installed options like aircon, cassette radios, child seats and sunroof wind deflectors. It’s unknown why the Sports Package wasn’t just part of the dealer options and accessories to begin with.

These are the Japanese dealer options. There was also a separate accessories brochure!

Some of the parts in the Sports Package are still sought after today. Many of the original parts have been replaced by aftermarket body kits or were damaged beyond repair. Finding original undamaged side skirts is quite challenging. Also some countries like the USA and Canada didn’t get these parts, so they tend to import them in large numbers which drives up the prices in Japan. Finally the pre-facelift front lip of the Levin and Trueno are being used on post-facelift models to give it a more pronounced lip. This means these lips are getting scarce and that also increases prices. Luckily many aftermarket bumpers, like the J-Blood Front Spoiler Type-2 includes this lip.

Zenki AE86 front spoiler on a kouki AE86 front bumper? Hell yeah!

Now the big question you have right now is how much the Sports Package would have cost you when you bought your AE86 new. I have found a lot of Japanese pricelists online and own four myself. Out of all these price lists I could only find two that mentioned the Sports Package as an option. In both cases the Sports Package was an option that was already included in the salesprice of the car. Does this mean it was free of charge? The strange thing is that this also implies some owners actually choose not to install the Sports Package!

1986 Toyota Sprinter pricelist: the sports package is part of the final price!

Surprisingly the Japanese Nissan Primera was slimmed down

January 12, 2021 / banpei / 0 Comments

This week I was surprised to learn the European Nissan Primera P10 actually is over 5 centimeters (2 inches) wider than the Japanese counterpart! This is a big revelation for me as I just assumed the same car, the same dimension. But boy I was wrong! So I started to investigate and went down the rabbit hole to share this JDM Trivia with you!

Happy (belated) New Year 2021!

January 10, 2021 / banpei / 0 Comments

I wish you all a happy belated New Year for 2021!

Photo by https://www.instagram.com/akid_0831/

I shamelessly used Akio Watanabe‘s Carinazoku to make it a cheerful post!

2020 reflection

Last year my New Years resolutions were to post more on this blog. I did actually manage to post about six times but Covid really made it impossible to do more. What had the most impact to this shortage of time was the fact that I was forced to work from home since mid-March 2020. This meant I lost my commute time which I used to write blogs, make videos, post on socials.

At the same time we had two lock downs in 2020, which means with two kids at home I have to do homeschooling with my wife. And then in the evening we both have to compensate for the loss of worktime so there is hardly any time left to do anything.

But there is good news! First of all I started to scan all AE86 brochures I own, touch them up and translate them. This is a long process that is still a long way from getting finished. At the same time I decided to write a book, but like the scanning of brochures that’s also a long way from getting finished. But both are something I can do between stuff and stop immediately whenever I have to. (unlike editing videos and such)

2021 resolutions

I don’t think my resolutions for the upcoming year will be any different. I’ll try to pick up the blog posting again. One thing I love to do on Instagram is what I call doomscrolling. I basically scroll endlessly through all those Japanese rusty vehicles posted on Instagram and I really enjoy doing that. So who knows, maybe I need to post the best of those here and link to the original posters?

Manga Car Spotting - You're Under Arrest part 7

Manga Car Spotting – Caterham Super 7 – Honda Gyro Up – You’re Under Arrest part 7

July 11, 2020 / banpei / 0 Comments

Manga Cars

What do a Caterham Super 7, Ducati 750 Sport, Toyota Crown Royal Saloon S140 and a Honda Motocompo have in common? They are all featured in the seventh manga of You’re Under Arrest! And what do they use them for? Naturally to catch car thieves in downtown Tokyo in the early 90s! In this manga review I will spot all the cars in the seventh manga of the Dark Horse publication of Kosuke Fujishima’s You’re Under Arrest! I’ll also include two mystery cars taken from the next and final manga, so we’ll play the little guessing game one more time! If you think you know what the mystery cars are, leave a comment below. In case you’re stuck: ask your friends on FB/Twitter/Insta

You’re Under Arrest by Kosuke Fujishima

The young petrolhead Kosuke Fujishima started out as an editor and assistant of, back then not so famous, Tatsuya Egawa mangaka. This inspired him to create his own manga and the first successful manga series drawn by him was You’re Under Arrest! (逮捕しちゃうぞ) which revolves around a Tokyo police station in the business district Sumida. The two protagonists are two female police offices called Natsumi Tsujimoto and Miyuki Kobayakawa and both of them are petrolheads. Natsuki is the more blunt one who catches thiefs, thugs and tramps singlehanded while Miyuki is the more intelligent one who loves tinkering with cars, engines and motorcylces.

In today’s manga we will spot more than 10 cars and various motorcycles. The most prominent car in this episode is the Caterham Super 7. Apart from that we see the Honda Today police special various times patroling the Sumida area in this car. We also see a couple of motorcycles and motorbikes. Some examples of these are the Honda Motocompo, Yamaha Pocke, Ducati 750 sport and the Honda Gyro Up delivery bike than can be spotted in this manga. Also don’t forget the overkill police arrest using various Toyota Crowns including the luxurious Toyota Crown Royal Saloon S140!

Initially created as a spin-off of You’re Under Arrest! manga, Ah! My Goddess surpassed it in fame. Belldandy turned up in one of the manga of You’re Under Arrest and this inspired it’s creator Kosuke Fujishima to create the Ah! My Goddess manga. In this a goddess, Belldandy, meets a lowly student Keiichi Morrisato and this series ran from 1988 till 2014. I have also created a Manga Car Spotting episode for this series some time ago. As Ah! My Goddess surpassed You’re Under Arrest! in popularity, the final manga of You’re Under Arrest was released in 1992.

You can find the video and the high resolution scans of the panels containing manga cars below: Continue reading