On this fine 8/6 Day I thought I'd finally introduce myself here. I'm Hosen from Hong Kong and I'm currently based in the NY area. I've been a lurker here for about 4 years going through all the technical threads, taking mental notes of the cars that come in and out of the classifieds, and gaining inspirations from build threads. It was about last summer when I began my "hunt" for a car, and 8 months later on May 2014, I struck gold. And here begins the story of my first ae86.
Meet Yukikaze,
The name was given by the previous owner(best seller ever!). The name stands for "Snow wind" in Japanese (cause it's white) and I decided to stick with it.
This is actually my first car, and many would find this rather ambitious. Everyone I knew, couldn't understand why I would buy such an old car except for one person. That person happens to be my close friend who studies in Miami and who I owe the everything to.
8 Months had past, and I couldn't find the right car to shoot for. It just so happened that when I thought of this very friend, I curiously checked out Craigslist Miami and stumbled upon Yuki. The ad post had only been up for a couple hours! I was a bit hesitant at first and thought "could I?" but a couple messages to the owner and my friend, and I found myself on a flight to Miami that weekend.
My friend,(just gonna call him KB) picked me up from the airport in his killer E90 M3 and we went to check out the car early the next day. We pull up to car under a car cover with a boxy shape and met the owner. He quickly showed me round the car and took me for a spin. I'll be honest, I was kinda terrified in the passenger seat. On the highway, the 4ag screamed like a N2 racer and the coilovers were set to the stiffest so it was bumpy as f***. but, I was sold.
The keys were traded for $5k and we spent the whole day driving. It also began to rain... Perfect!
I was kinda worried when I first got into the driver seat, but once the rain fell and after letting the tail loose, I was in love.
I have had the opportunity to drive many performance cars in the past ranging from KB's M3 to a 2012 GTR, but the ae86 is the only thing that gives me de javu from my karting days.
Miami's about 85-90 degrees with the humidity of the scale. "Hows the lack of A/C?" KB asked as I climb out drenched with a huge smile on my face.
Day light was about to go and I had to catch a flight back to NY. I handed the keys to KB who would ship the car all the way up. I did consider driving, but I didn't want to risk it...
These are the photos KB sent to me while I waited eagerly for her to arrive.
) with a T3 short shifter
