Some of the best cars in Ireland are tucked away in the most unassuming sheds. We take a trip to two very unassuming locations to shed light on some AE86s, DC2 Integras, Civics and some starlets .
We head to Irelands largest gathering of Japanese cars. An annual event held at Mondello Raceway, Japfest is the largest gathering of Japanese cars in Ireland and usually brings out some unexpected treats.
In this episode, we fall down the rabbit hole, trying to find out how many AE86’s Toyota produced worldwide. This episode started because two of our Truenos were 40 cars between each other on the assembly line in 1987 and now they live in the same shed. We also uncover some rare photos and interviews with the head designers and engineers on the AE86 chassis.
You’ve more than likely seen the recent vlog episode about Sean and Barry, two brothers with an undeniable love for old Japanese cars, preferably old Toyotas. I’ve known the lads a very long time, and I’ve always admired Sean persistence with his builds.
Two brothers with a long love for all things AE86 and Toyota, open the doors to their garage and let us have a look around.
I had been meaning to shoot these cars for quite some time now. During the week when I’m working up in JDMDistro, I’ve been trying to make my way out to certain cars or groups of mates with interesting sheds. These lads are all local to where I’m living midweek so we managed to lock in a date after work last year and head for the hills.
We check out five of Irelands finest AE86’s and uncover some old photos of my Trueno.
This photo set is from the second trip up to MR “X”. I was going to pile these photos in with the third trip but each time we head up there I always find myself snapping everything in sight. There is something new with every journey, something to leave you either confused or in awe. The little 5 GT Turbo has seen many AE86’s being stripped at this point, I wonder if it ever thinks it’s going to be next.
We head back to MR “X” to shop for AE86 parts. We also clean some 4A-GE valves and Flip gives us an update on his FC RX7
We shoot a stunning Blacktop 4A-GE AE111 Levin, a somewhat forgotten chassis and the guys go drifting their Datsuns at Mondello Park.
I had wanted to see this place for years. We are going to call this Person Mr X as this is what was requested. Being friends with MR X on facebook for a very long time and chatting back and forth about various cars he had imported, we already had a solid relationship. I had shot a few of his cars for the website at various track days over the years but never had the chance to visit his house, I had only seen photos of stuff for sale on Facebook. I was originally going to get a shell from MR X and build on it from there but then a whole other thing happened with the Trueno from Dans Garden.
Let’s get stuck right back into our walk around Japfest 2017. I can’t stress how good this event was, it’s a clear indication that we are out of the dark times. The car scene is booming once again.
This article was lost when the website went under. I managed to recover most of it and felt it was right to get these photos up here from what was easily one of the best Irish car shows to date. This will be coming in two parts as there is a huge photo dump with this feature. I’ve left the original writing intact so it might sound a little weird as those were supposed to be posted back in 2017.
The history of my AE86 | Juicebox Unboxed #29
In this Episode, we piece together this history of the AE86 and the recently acquired 20valve 4A-GE engine
AE86 parts graveyard | Juicebox Unboxed #21
We take a visit to an AE86 parts graveyard to pick up some parts for the Trueno, we also check out a very unique collection of old-school Toyotas locked up in some sheds.