It’s the footage that started the craze; the 1987 documentary Pluspy follows the ‘Drift King’ himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya, drifting the touge in his iconic AE86. Little did he know that this video would spark a worldwide phenomenon. Now be warned, this is no 2016 HD video edit with Daigo Saito drifting a lambo at 60 degrees of angle — this was shot in 1987 when drifting as we all know it didn’t exist as a sport. What you’re about to watch is the video that kick-started the sport. Transport yourself back to 1987 and imagine one of your mates bringing this over and sticking it in your VHS player and watching it for the first time.
The Drift King was a successful road racer at the time and used drifting as a driving technique during circuit races, but lost his competition licence once the powers above caught wind of these after-hour mountain-pass antics. If you have seen Initial D, the main character Takumi was based on Keiichi, who did in fact use his delivery runs as a teenager through the mountain roads as driving/drifting practice.
