He move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy
City lights and business nights
When you require streetcar desire for higher heights
When sentiment is left to chance
No place to be ending but somewhere to start
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator….”
I randomly asked Samuel Kong for a random 80s song and he chose, ‘Smooth Operator‘… lol. I guess this song kinda relates to this post because Samuel is the smooth operator of this 1986 Toyota Corolla SR5 now converted to GTS. These photos were done sometime in August 2017 and finished editing last December… so I guess I’ve been pretty busy to be making this post now. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
My first time seeing Samuel’s 1986 Toyota Corolla was in 2010 at NST show and drift event…. the hachiroku’s headlights were unforgettable lol…
And again at Texas 86 Fest meet up in 2013…
Present 2018… not much has changed other than the car sitting and collecting dust…
Sammy rarely drives the hachiroku nowadays because the car was meant to road race / autox…
Check out his previous autox track day videos below…
I had some free time and wanted to check out his street/track build….
So I just made a photoshoot out of it… I forgot if the rear TRD spoiler was real or not but I like it either way…
His choice of protective rubber are Toyo Proxes R888’s…
He told me the car might be for sale, but it’s hard to let go of something that was so important…
I guess we all have to grow up someday… nahhhh.
Full maroon interior kept in great condition…
Sammy obtained the chassis in 2003 and car was converted to GTS spec since then with a 4AGE red top….
Actually missed focus on showing the aluminum dizzy cover…
Sammy the “Smooth Operator” on the phone… with his fiance lol…
The sun was setting so light was getting really nice and soft…
If you ever find this spot… I wouldn’t recommend any low cars shooting around there…
The classic white TE37’s wrapped with beefy tires gives the hachiroku a serious track stance…
And now a few small details…
CF hood, latch, pop ups…
Red line tails…
JDM stickers to increase the Initial D tax just in case you want to sell your car…. lol.
Sammy’s car is set up perfectly for road racing and his stiff/bumpy street driving style. There’s a few things to fix or work on but that’s the life of all AE86 owners…
As usual, thanks for checking out the post of Sammy’s 1986 Toyota Corolla. If you have any questions or comments, just hit me up per usual.
Link to full album of photos: http://www.danhphan.com/Cars/Sammy-Panda-AE86-/
Danh Phan
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http://www.instagram.com/dtphan