23 July 2010

The Hachi Roku & The BTCC - a Match made in 1980's Heaven

The 80's was an pretty interesting time. Weird haircuts, massive shoulder pads, synth music, Pat sharp and unluckily for some, me entering the world. But amongst the madness The British Touring Car Championship was in it's prime with some of the best cars & drivers around at the time fighting hard.
From BMW E30 M3's piloted by the likes of Frank Sytner to Ford Sierra Cosworths ragged the hell out of by legends of the BTCC like Andy Rouse there were some incredible battles from start to finish of every race. Just before things got boring and Front wheel drive cars began to take over, our favorite little Hachi Roku was in there fighting strong!

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Based on UK Corolla GT's (which was basically our version of Japan's Levin shape) they were blasted around some of the UK's best tracks such as Silverstone, Brands Hatch & Thruxton throughout the mid to late 80's. Many Privateers & works teams used the Corolla GT as their weapons of choice, and there was even a Toyota Works team sporting a fresh Hachi. As Seen here in an old Toyota Advertisement.

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Chris Hodgetts who drove for CHMS/Toyota GB was the man to provide the Corolla GT with it's most famous victories. Providing the little car with two BTCC titles in both 1986 & 1987 back to back. He is seen as the man when it come to driving 86's in BTCC.

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Lot's of Drivers appeared n the CHMS Corolla's over the years, but non more famous than Chris Hodgetts. Hodgetts's car was initially the only car in the team, but was later joined by second car backed by Demon Tweeks driven by Alan Minshaw.

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Toyota's replacement to the 86 was the front wheel drive AE82. The 82 began to be used in the BTCC in 1987 piloted by the famous Tiff Needell & Phil Dowsett and unfortunately the AE86 was removed from the BTCC starting grid towards the end of the 1980's.
Gone but not forgotten from the BTCC, the AE86 will forever be remembered for it's agile chassis & rev happy 4AGE. A Perfect recipe for 1980's British Touring Car Racing.

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But it wasn't just in the British Touring Car Championship where the 86 was dominant. Over in Denmark, the Works Toyota/Castrol car piloted famously by John Nielsen & Erik Hoyer strung together lots of victories during the 1984/85 & 86 Seasons.

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This dominance was happening in Touring Car Championships all over and was creating beginning of the legend that is the AE86. I have had to miss out so much information about the 86's stamp on Touring Car Racing, but i hope i have given you a nice taster into it. Perhaps you could share your Corolla Touring Car Knowledge?

Thanks for reading,
James.

1 comment:

  1. The 86 was very much like it's 1980's counterpart, the Mullet.
    Business up front
    Party at the rear

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