The world of car modification naturally intersects with several car subcultures that have in themselves evolved and shifted over the years, each of which changes the types of modifications that become popular.
One of the most unique (and illegal on public roads) of these is drifting culture, which for many people who first learned about modified tuner cars from films like The Fast and The Furious and games like Need For Speed Underground 2, drifting and street racing are also part of the package.
Whilst street racing and tuning have been part of car culture since time immemorial, the popularity of drifting is, much like many of the cars that did it best, a grey import, and much of its popularity can be traced back to one man known simply as the Drift King.
The Touge Run
Most countries with strong car cultures have a distinctive signature type of racing that is often associated with the nation. In the United Kingdom, this is the traditional Hill Climb such as that seen at Pikes Peak. In the United States, it is the quarter-mile drag race.
In Japan, the most popular form of underground racing is known as touge, or “mountain pass” runs. Because of the winding, mountainous roads found in Japan, particularly those scaling Mount Haruna in Gunma, touge runs are either time trials or cat and mouse chases seen as an ultimate test of skill and nerve.
It was in this environment that Keiichi Tsuchiya honed his skills, not only as a highly effective driver through difficult and often dangerous routes but also through his penchant for injecting a stylish flair into his driving.
Unlike many drivers in motorsport, he did not have the money to compete in a world where your chance at a drive is determined by the sponsorship you bring rather than the skill you have, so he built himself up from the underground, inspired by his hero, the “father of drifting” Kunimitsu Takahashi.
Once he transferred to the track, he took his drift-happy racing style to the track he both wowed spectators and infuriated the governing bodies to the point that he nearly lost his racing license.
Regardless, he had started a trend, and by 1985 he won the Class 3 All Japan Touring Car championship driving the car that would define him and the drift world as a whole. In the UK it is known as the Toyota Corolla GT, officially it is known as the Sprinter Trueno, but to fans, it is known simply as Hachi-Roku, or “Eight-Six”.
Eight-Six
After three years of success with the car, he collaborated with several car magazines popular in Japan as well as tuning garages putting the money and resources together to produce a very low-budget film in 1987 known simply as Pluspy.
Whilst Mr Tsuchiya had been driving with his flamboyant drifting style for years, Pluspy was the genesis of drifting as a cultural phenomenon, although it nearly cost him his racing career until he agreed to be part of an anti-street racing film called Megalopolis Expressway Trial 2.
He would become the inspiration for several popular comics and shows, most notably Initial D, which has several parallels to his life, he would be a consultant for the anime adaptation and would cameo in.
He would do the same with the third Fast and the Furious Film, Tokyo Drift, as well as advocating for drifting as a motorsport, showcasing the event in its early stages on an episode of Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld.
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