The Story of the 10 Million Yen Toyota Corolla and Akira Iida

The AE86 has captured the hearts of many automotive enthusiasts over the years - from anime fans to professional racing drivers, like Akira Iida. This video covers his journey into becoming one of the best drivers in Japan and spending a huge sum of money to build his dream car, an AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin.
New information/Mistakes:
N/A
Some extra reading material in addition to the Option Video series:
www.club4ag.com/faq_and_tech_...
www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/for...
Music:
HOME - Pyxis
HOME - If I'm Wrong
Chris Doerkson - The Return
HOME - Burning
Chris Doerkson - Perhaps Something More
Thanks for watching and supporting the channel!

[@SlowlysModels]

Oh MAN this'll be a a weekly re-watch for me haha! Cheers for continuing to share stories about all sorts of cars, people and scenes! Can't wait to see and hear all the stuff you're going to cover in the future!!

[@JeffreyGoddin]

Great suggestion, Slowly! Great video, all smiles watching!

[@fredschriks8554]

Yeah this was a good one.

[@Nikolayski1337]

Man, I really love your videos! I can imagine how much work is needed to create such content. Keep it up!!!

[@Wisey_83]

sounds like hes used an AI...

[@xjserpent7665]

Gets third place for his first race Gets signed up with the Drift King Wins GT2 category at Le Mans Drives an open-wheel car like Senna Gives all this up to build an 80s Corolla What a legend

[@johannes7059]

Seeing these guys laughing and having fun while doing their show really make me happy, thank you, great video

[@billlozenge5380]

Let's go! As an ae86 owner I'm glad to see it covered on this channel

[@Jwayne52]

Nice

[@Sauv_27]

Man i would love to see the interior of ae86

[@billlozenge5380]

@@DrSaucePacket late model (kouki) Trueno 2 door

[@davidpistek6241]

I had one in 03 it was beat up pretty bad but it took me to Florida, I regret not keeping it it was like a practical miata comfortable fun to drive efficient and with a back seat 20 years ago it was just a old car what a mistake

[@davidpistek6241]

Mine was a tureno coupe us only got the pop up front in coupe and hatch

[@muhammadryanelyeddari8631]

I always love coming back to this video. Crazy that it's already been 8 months since it came out.

[@Squireissocoolie]

Great video as always! Anything Altezza related would be awesome. Super cars and top speed stories are great, but these lesser known to the Western world stories are amazing.

[@Kurzawaa]

Nice to see you around Squire! +1 for the Altezza, so much history but little knowledge in the west. Seeing it as a drift chassis is weird.

[@princesssolace4337]

That's why an American, CB Media moved to Thailand but even he doesn't venture across the boarder into Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia and Phillipines to expand his contents. Maybe he doesn't have the confidence yet bcoz of so many years of being polarized and living in United State of Cocoon 😊

[@princesssolace4337]

​@@Kurzawaa Why is seeing the Altezza in drift is weird? It's been around for ages and it shudn't be weird at all .... its the same like seeing the 89/90 Cefiro chassis in early 2000 drifting scene around Asia.

[@destrudot]

the altezza is my dream car, id be insanely stoked to see a video like that

[@auroraspace2392]

Fun fact, the gt300 spec ae86 was basically cut and welded together with a formula 3 car, hence why it was so fast while being a terribly old car compared to its competition

[@tzuRu]

Couple seconds in, yet another story of just seeing a car being perfected? Sign me up.

[@ollieminecraft]

Happy Easter!

[@wawalol2729]

Great video! Id love to see a video on Revolfe since I feel the company has alot of influence behind the scenes and even more specifically Mizota and his 300ZX.

[@zoltanrr]

this is an awesome idea

[@ruthygerstenberger621]

love this !!

[@NO-ge6ci]

There was a 600hp rotary AE86?! Japanese tuners were crazy back in the day

[@shingosshojiopoulos6608]

Amazing video as always. Can you do a video about the Sigma police squad that we had here in Greece? They drove M3s, M5s, 911 turbos, Mustangs, RS2s and a lot more cool cars.

[@cory5197]

As someone who dwelled so deep into the world of AE86’s, this is my first time hearing about Akira Iido. Thank you for this video, now my research continues

[@kacpertron]

As soon as I saw this video I knew I had ro click on it. I would love if you made content more frequently but I understand if you cannot due to time, family, etc. Just know that I really enjoy these short and long documentaries about cars. Can't wait for the next one.

[@L8-APEX]

Do a deep dive into the Whittington Brothers 935

[@JimA86s]

Perfect ideo. I thought that somebody would finally bring into spotlight the reall origin of the initial d engine and got a ton of extra knowledge on both Iida's project and what it spawned after it got completed. Keep up the great work!

[@mattoattacko]

You're creating the kind of content I could only dream of when I was growing up. I've been in the JDM scene since 2001 and loved watching Akira's progress whenever it was brought up in Option videos. I wasn't fluent though and missed a lot of the smaller details, so your videos go a long way towards helping me understand what was actually going on. Thanks!

[@freed8m]

If you could cover the Blitz R348 GT-R, it would be amazing, and perhaps while there, Daijiro Inada's career would be interesting too! ps. I'm totally getting a Mito Natto sticker lmao

[@Skooby59]

I really appreciate your style of telling stories, regardless of the subject

[@DankeSeb5]

I absolutely love your vids. Thank you so much. Your vids are so awesome! Keep it up!

[@desupageweb]

Awesome! I would love to see a video on Keiichi's AE86(s) and how they've evolved from the early 80s to modern day.

[@NEEDbacon]

Before seeing this I figured he owned one of the cleanest, well built AE86's on earth. Like it's to the point Fuses and and light weight batteries are what are raising power (a video covering that on Carprime exists). Kinda also shows what a beast Akira's engine is as now with modern electronics is Keiichi's AE86 just MATCHING his detuned engine.

[@75yomu]

@@NEEDbacon racing engine from the 90s vs fully built tecarts 7age 🤔

[@workdesu]

loved this video. i waited soo long for someone to tell akira iida's tale and you did him justice. he's a legend but just not that well known.

[@egpbb6]

For story ideas: The racers of Mulholland of the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. The big story was Chris Banning’s RSR Porsche 911 that was purpose built for racing the mountain at night. Chris Banning wrote a book called The Mulholland Experience that shares his and his friends experiences racing Mulholland. The history of Mulholland alone is very interesting. James Dean loved to open up his Porsche on it back in the 50’s when the highway was sparsely used. Love all of your stories! Thought this could be an interesting topic!

[@chrisevaggelou8473]

Love the video, I have a big passion for cars and I have read lots of car magazines from "max power " "revs" "redline" "fast car" but my favourite was "honda tuning" the drag racing story's of Honda's and interviews with car builders and racers was what made me keep on reading time and again the same article. Your video is the evolution of car magazines for me and I will be subscribing

[@toctuning]

Seeing this documented on one of the best youtube channels to cover cool car content in depth, I'm only a minute and and so excited to see the spotlight hit this car and driver because the original video, looooong before youtube, was rare, and finding another copy floating through cyber space proved nearly impossible until around 2010-2014 or so when reuploads and original copies became a norm to find in AE86 internet culture. The chassis welding was by far one of the best things I've ever seen, and led me down a path that allows me to do what I do now in life.

[@kinga711]

YAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super exited, always something new, always learn something with only passion👍

[@KevinSan88]

I couldn’t make sense of natto either, until JC Pepino of Work Wheels told me how he likes it. Hot rice, mix the natto in the container until it goes kinda foamy, put it on the rice then top with a raw egg and some soy sauce. Then mix up everything until it’s smooth and a little frothy. It’s now my favorite breakfast 😂

[@yasuke1075]

Can you do a story of Club RH9 and the related shops in Japan. Every time it is brought up it always has some mystique about the exclusiveness of the club and some really cool car builds. It feels potentially like a mid night club sort of thing. Or even a video on who the rivals of the mid night club would have been because those guys are rarely mentioned except in some of your stories I think. Anyways, I love the videos and the effort you put in man!

[@shinjukucalling763]

This is easily my favorite channel on KZbin. The type of lore you cover is so important

[@oztrekgelsoft8409]

My Levin 86 is in preparation for a full rebuild top to bottom after 18years is still my pride and joy no car is as fun to drive

[@Ezukiru]

That first engine start-up, it made me cry of joy :')

[@generacionmarttin]

I have met and talked with Imai san from Bee-R several times and one time we talked about this AE86 and Mito Natto. He had lots of fun doing this project. One insteresting bit of information is about the team itself, even if Akira and Orido were "goofying" around for Video Option, off camera it was a serious street racing team. Ishikawa's AE86 probably become the fastest AE86 in Tokyo area and another member had an absolute beast of a Wangan AE86, specially fast on the C1. These cars all had millions upon millions of yens invested in them.

[@danielhafner2531]

Great work as always! I'd love to see you do a video on The Ghost Camaro and it's absolute lad of a driver Helge Meyer. It'd definitely be something very interesting to learn about.

[@crestedisland]

Love the videos man, never disappoints! A great story for you that would fit right in this channel is “Big Willie” Robinson and the International and National Brotherhood of Street Racers. Definitely a tale that deserves to be preserved. Keep up the good work!

[@binskee677]

Can you make a video about the "gentlemans agreement" in the 90's in Japan and how and why it was created and how companies cheated it or worked around it?

[@HaiFisch_TV]

Best channel on YT rightnow... absolutely love every upload

[@abeltane5824]

Japanese automotive enthusiasts are so underrated thankyou for sharing this remarkable story

[@dealerpluses]

Loved watching this, entire video was perfectly paced and felt like it has a beginning middle and satisfying end!! All the archival footage is mesmerising to watch

[@dirtberger4533]

Thank you for the great video, so many memories. I worked for Toyota in the service department for 15 year, really miss it.

[@audiencesmember]

Another banger upload, king! Very well done!

[@TyrannoCyrusRex]

Your channel is by FAR my favorite channel of all time, I can't wait to see how much you blow up.

[@g_y.rtz420]

hey man, i got into, and mean REALLY INTO motorsports and cars and tuning and all that just last month when i decided to watch initial d while drunk. The morning after this video popped on my recommendations and THIS started my spiral actually. My friend is a hardcore enthusiast (well he has a serious sim rig and he loved motorsports since time immemorial) and he helped me with getting to know F1, rally, touge, everything, but this video man. I fucking love it the most. Not just because of the 86 (but of course thats a big part of it), but because of the 2000s footage and the non serious storyline from a very talented racer. Im a huge sucker of 2000s japan footage, and you got this niche subculture to go along with it, then you briefly try natto, thats funny as hell. I love this video to bits. Thank you, this is really great.

[@robertzilla3470]

I really enjoy your video's. I'm new to the JDM fandom and really find these video's very informative as to why the hype is real. Keep it up my man!!!

[@ballisticgaming8470]

Only channel I have notifications on for. Let's go

[@Yoshida930]

Big agree

[@caledonianrailway1233]

Good idea I’ll do that as well

[@matthewburhans4355]

Another great video as always! Excited for the next

[@Corphish_]

I love all your uploads maybe try Akira Nakia from RWB next? I am just in love with all your uploads

[@nahuelise4055]

Thanks a lot,this type of content it's worth it's weight in gold. I like to watch your videos several times each cause they are just that good!

[@JayDeeMcMillan]

I really enjoyed this doco. Cheers for the content!

[@MAXpaowers]

Awesome!!! Keep up the great work and video rollings!

[@VinceroAlpha]

Yet another legendary video essay! Keep up the work!

[@T.Lspitz]

Glad to see you're back. Excited to watch another awesome video

[@BluesBoyJonny]

Great video. I did very much enjoy it!

[@WodenSimRacing]

This was great. Well done, loved every minute

[@joshacollins84]

Another master piece! Thank you Hunter Moon!

[@jubbydubby8275]

First video of yours I've seen, freaking brilliant, definitely coming back for more :)

[@taleon2001]

great video as always man always hyped up to see a new video of yours pop up on my recommend, waits always worth it cant wait to keep tuned for the next, keep it up !!!

[@peterparker3668]

Man I love these video so much! Been a big fan for a while thank you for the awesome content

[@Applesauzified]

Really love your content, such fascinating topics to learn about! It's always great feeling when I spot the notification that you uploaded

[@ToreDL87]

I enjoyed the story on Iida, thumbs up for that! 🤩 But as for the 4A-GE, Respectfully, you didn't do as much research as I would have deemed satisfactory, 6:48 He bought a stock engine for just a few bucks out of a wrecked AE101, and it certainly didn't come with a dry-sump. Watch episode 4 of the workbox series you can see them taking the 20v apart, it's got an original stock wet-sump oil pan on it, stock internals, it's bone stock, it's even got the wrecker notes on it. They even said they'd only be using the head and block from it. And that's what they did, he threw the TRD catalogue at it (also covered in the series), which contrary to what you state, anyone could do because the TRD catalogue lists the parts #'s, you simply order them over the counter, and if Toyota has them in stock = Good to go. But, as it goes when buying tuning parts = Really expensive, then there's machining and assembly as well, race-spec 4A-G's are around 15-25k depending how few hours you want between each overhaul (a.k.a how much hp). Notice how he picked up all the goodies, still brand new in TRD boxes, something he wouldn't have to do if the engine already had the goodies in it, it would merely need washing the parts, change bearings and check the bores etc, overhaul. The point of the whole TRD catalogue was that anyone could buy a Toyota and buy tuning parts from Toyota according to the category and class they were competing in. Google and download the TRD Bible, you'll see what I mean. Same thing with GR (Gazoo Racing) today, who has taken the role of TRD (Toyota Racing Development), you get their catalogue and order the parts straight from Toyota.

[@samuelwong4152]

What a great video ! Good job !

[@Okana900]

Great video and editing! You earned yourself a new subscriber!

[@mikedorner5853]

This was an awesome video/topic to cover, I love learning about some of the lesser known people and cars of Japanese car culture, keep up the great work!

[@AnalogAssassin1]

Absolutely great production man.

[@bobjegatheeswaran3658]

great videos as always, probably the highest quality channel I watch

[@zakiasakura6481]

Always enjoyed your video with these kind of contents

[@CAMOCULT2086]

Excellent topic

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Fantastic job detailing the history of the car, thank you 👍😆

[@jonwebb9261]

This video was incredible! Thank you for all the time and effort you put in. I'd love to see one about Taniguchi and his famous red S15

[@orvilleeduardosantosperez6133]

Such a great video as always. 👏👏👏

[@censoredialogue]

this deserves WAY more views. this might be the most entertaining video you’ve done so far ❤

[@cheveu8632]

Beautiful story and great editing and video all around.

[@secs]

congrats on the 50k channel brother! i was looking for your channel after seeing the time attack videos i watched before and found it again. deserve millions of subs

[@thepsychobilly88]

great content as always!!

[@J3Wbacca]

Great video looking forward to the next one

[@stephenlauret132]

I enjoyed it! Happy you made another video!!! :D

[@BundSama]

Thanks! Amazing content as usual, now I just need to track down all the EP of Akira's Workbox.

[@michaookami4113]

Good old days Full of incredible man and their machines

[@jeroenorriens2590]

Awsome video, thank you so much for all the effort that goes into each of your video's

[@tempeztad]

Excellent video!!! You just got a new sub!

[@marantzfury3024]

Keep these video coming man. In my Top 3 channels on KZbin. Thanks

[@dotel6560]

the goat uploaded once again

[@Carlston9723]

The legend is back lets go

[@shadowninja569]

Can't wait to see Helge Meyer's Camaro .

[@38tech]

What a fantastic video!!! This is def a lighter side of Japan. People just following their own passion will always produce the best outcomes.

[@danielescobar7618]

Ah jeez man .. sure do love when i stumble on another hunters moon video. Your videos got me back into cars after 20 years sitting it out.

[@tez2164]

Great work. Thank you ❤

[@zacharycgmail873]

Omiya Madonna Racing would be an amazing video. Those girls were the reason a lot of young women got into the car scene in the 80-90s. would love to see more on this team

[@dregomangaming6384]

Yo, your videos are amazing I love it when you upload! Keep it up!

[@alxuria]

damn, always so much research and info in these, sick vid

[@smallsmoke69]

What a great video, definitely subscribed keen to see what other cool content you got 😁

[@pr4xzy]

Finally a new video 🙏🏾

[@kazakov1667]

The most exciting time of month has come!

[@brentonroach8792]

beautiful cars beautiful documentary thankyou

[@bowesterlund3719]

Great vid!!

[@Dontbemad1]

Great video amazing information 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@theholysmite9935]

Holy didn't expect you to cover this vehicle

[@FCT8306onTwoWheels]

9:44 omg this is the Avengers Of the JDM race car drivers grouping together, damn this is great stuff and I thought Id see all the Best Motoring videos there were

[@hillclimbracingfan5821]

Your videos are phenomenal and i truly enjoy them. Make a video about either Gatebil event or Gateway in Stockholm movie series or Ghostrider from Sweden or Georg Plasa and his influence on hillclimb racing.

[@wilfredotuzonrps13]

I watched Akira’s Work Box on a nightly basis, learned so much about working on cars from it. It was also hilarious 😆