Words and Photos: Richard Opie
Some decades ago, way back in the mid sixties, Honda created one of the singular most successful advertising slogans to flog a few motorcycles in the USA.
That tagline? “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” A pretty straightforward phrase that set the masses in motion – quite literally – with the inference of belonging to a two-wheeled community of bloody ripper people.
For certified Christchurch JDM-phile Brent Howey, that same tagline could apply to him and his sublime AE85 Trueno hatch, albeit with a couple of extra wheels thrown into the equation a bit less Honda, and a lot more Toyota.
“You meet the nicest people in a slammed boxy 1980s 2-door hatch” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but despite the thorough nature of the build it’s a sentiment that seems to typify Brent’s journey with the wee cult-classic. All of the steel, plastic, glass and other materials that piece together the heady sum of your favourite automobile are only part of the equation. Pardon the pun, but they’re vehicles for experiences and relationships, forging memories and creating a lasting impression in our psyche.
At first glance, the Trueno exhibits a heavy leaning towards the ‘JDM’ side of the styling spectrum, owing to Brent’s selection of authentic bits and pieces from the motherland. But his journey began, probably the moment he became a twinkle in his old man’s eye, with hardware arguably from the opposite end of the car culture game. “From the start, my old man was more into the American cars,” explains Brent, “but he did a bit of offroading, built buggies in the garage at home and that sort of thing too.”
With an upbringing in South Canterbury, and a dad only too happy to put the pedal to the metal on the dirt, it’s little wonder Brent grew up with that metaphorical high-octane blood pumping through his veins. From ripping around in the park as a toddler in a home-made kart, through to taking the wheel on his dads knee on the four wheel drive tracks, the seeds of automotive hooliganism were clearly sown at a young age.
“I just really like anything with wheels and a motor,” admits Brent, “I had motorised skateboards, and rode faster and faster dirt bikes from when I was only 2 years old, so the car thing was always gonna happen.”
To ensure the most of out the 20B, the gearbox and differential combo needed to be right. Popular amongst competitive drivers worldwide, a Winters Quick Change would take differential duties ensuring the power is distributed at the times when it matters most. When considering the gearbox however, Rene was no stranger to a decent sequential gearbox having run a TTI in the RX-2, however as the RX-7 is making twice the power of the N/A quadrotor in the RX-2, it was clear to Rene there was only one box he was putting in – Hollinger. This would ensure the 20B is always within its most efficient power band and allow the gear ratios to be set whether Rene is shredding tyres or in a grip session testing the limits of traction and suspension.
Despite growing up around bent-eight powered gear – from his brothers Torana through to his sisters’ going out with fellas similarly inclined – when Brent finally nabbed his license there was only one way his automotive loyalties were going to sway. “Everyone my age in Christchurch was running around in Japanese stuff,” he exclaims, “Skylines, VR4s, Evos, those were the cars to have!” While an Evo 3 was the dream, applying for insurance said otherwise, so Brent opted for a Lancer MIVEC sedan, fitted with the obligatory Evo 3 ‘kit and dropped over a big set of chromes, as was the style at the time. Nonetheless, he’d dipped his feet into the pool that is modifying JDM cars, and before long the wee Mitsi moved aside for an R32 Skyline GTS-4.
“Owning the Skyline really got me into the idea of sliding, and getting loose,” laughs Brent, “and a mate loaned me a copy of the Drift Bible DVD.” In the early-mid 2000s, with drifting only just beginning to come of age outside its home country, this specific DVD (produced by Best Motoring) was a 71-minute pilgrimage for anyone with a keen interest in Japanese car culture. Boiled down, it’s essentially a drift tuition video, presented by the DK himself, Keiichi Tsuchiya. What chassis is Tsuchiya-san most indelibly linked with? The legendary AE86 of course, and with both DK and the wee twin-cam Toyota featuring prominently in the video, it piqued Brent’s interest, a departure from his staunch turbocharged preferences.
“A mad-dog mate of a mate had one, and he used to thrash it, and get loose in it, so I knew what they [the AE86s] were,” says Brent, “and as I got into watching more of the Japanese togue videos and seeing these cars keeping up with GT-Rs, the more I got interested.” With his AE86 knowledge blooming from the historical significance of the chassis, through to the contemporary drift culture, Brent admits he became something of an enthusiast. Then, a mate ended up with an AE85 Trueno, and despite Brent’s insistence to let him know if he ever sold it, swore this one was a keeper. Despite the AE85 arriving to his mate Troy in what Brent describes as “a bit of a state,” the bones were there for a solid build. Already swapped to a 16-valve 4A-GE, the Trueno’s had unfortunately suffered a bit due to the elements – nothing new for a Toyota – and previous owners ham-fisted modifications. Fibreglass covered rusty steel, but Troy had the bodywork whipped back into shape, coated in that unique creamy white hue, and road legal – before calling time on the project, despite prior assertion.
“I had this R32 shell I was building as a drift car, I was pretty much ready to get right into drifting, and the option to buy the AE came up,” explains Brent, “I was riding my bike a lot at the time, had bought a house, and the idea of a WOF and rego’d car I could use sounded great!”
With a recent history of boosted RWD Nissans, and his potent drift build now abandoned, Brent freely admits he wasn’t really invested in the prospect of “oldschool” cars prior to parking the Trueno in his driveway. “I liked lots of power, being able to spin the wheels, shit like that,“ he laughs, and the prospect of an NA 1.6-litre definitely didn’t seem like it could deliver those sort of thrills.
“Parking the AE in the garage, and studying the lines, just made me fall in love with it, and start to appreciate old cars,” says Brent.
But what also started in Brent’s garage, was a thorough refresh and tidy up of the Trueno, to meet his standards of what a cool street AE should be.
First port of call was the engine bay.”It was still red, grimy and had a birds nest of wires,” Brent explains, “but it looked great from the outside. Troy had sorted the coilovers, and it sat really nice over a set of Watanabes.”
Getting to work, Brent lugged the 4A-GE out of the grubby engine bay, stripped the interior and set about getting the sheetmetal inside matching the lustrous creamy exterior. The engine bay was duly prepped and unnecessary holes filled to create a smoother look, an aesthetic inspired by countless internet searches turning up examples of ultra-clean 4A-GE-filled engine bays from Japan, USA and even New Zealand.
With the interior and engine bay now running a consistent colour scheme, Brent turned his hand – and eye for detail – to the mechanicals. The subframe and diff came out for the full treatment, refinished, rebushed and augmented with an array of go-fast gear from the MRP RCA’s, longer LCAs, Cusco swaybars front and rear and an aggressive Kaaz 2-way LSD to finish it off.
Wheel choice was almost a no brainer for Brent, with classic SSR Mark II 3-piece wheels filling out the tweaked guards in 14×8-inch wide sizing. The appropriate ride height comes courtesy of the aforementioned Parts Shop Max coilovers, but Brent also saw fit to augment the styling with a pre-facelift lip, TRD sideskirts and a TRD spoiler moulded into the hatch for the JDM cherry on the top.
“It looks how I reckon one of these should look,” says Brent, “small wheels, low, it was always the way to go!”
“The way to go” under the bonnet is likely consistent with how many would consider an AE86 “right.” Pride of place is a 16-valve 4A-GE, the decision to remain with the original, period correct engine another decision influenced by those clean bays discovered online.
“I knew straight away I wanted the crazy high rise headers and ITB to match the smoothed engine bay,” grins Brent, “and as soon as I saw the engine bay needed work it was always going to be this way – I HAD to do it!”
It’s a well trodden, straightforward path really. The recipe includes a set of Kelford 193B cams, stout valve springs with titanium retainers and an MRP cambelt tensioner ensuring a useful power spread and reliability at high RPM. Air enters the engine via a quartet of Blacktop throttle bodies, adapted to the head with a billet T3 manifold. After the suck, squeeze and bang happens inside the screaming 4-banger, exhaust gases swoop out of the head thanks to those gorgeous Surfab stainless headers, exiting via the signature 4A-GE bark through a 2.5-inch system.
It’s all tuned with a Link G3 – although this is in line for replacement – but still pumps out a handy 90kw at the rears, enough to get those little 175/60/14-inch tyres laying a pair of black lines with a bit of clutch encouragement!
Brent describes the experience as a learning process, but one of the aspects he wasn’t totally prepared for was the sense of community that comes with owning an old car – and an old Toyota at that!
“I got the car, and thought I’d take it to a trackday, so I signed up. I turned up, did a few laps and pulled into the pits and three other AE’s had shown up for a chat,” Brent explains with a bit surprise, “next thing asking if I need parts, or help… it blew me away!”
“With the Nissans, it was always a focus on how fast it was how much power it had, but the guys with old Toyotas are just so positive – everyone’s really stoked to see the cars out being used, I’ve been so taken back by how many people from different walks give you a compliment, a thumbs up or whatever,” he smiles.
Fast forward though, to the car as it stands now, and the pilgrimage to the best day for a Toyota owner, the 2023 edition of the annual Gazoo Racing Festival held at Highlands Motorsport Park way down in Cromwell.
Having only really finished up the ITB’d iteration of the car with a tune completed only the night before, Brent recalls the road trip with ample enthusiasm.
“I thought, shit it’s a long way to go by myself, and we’d just got it done literally 8 or 9pm the night before,” laughs Brent, “my mate had a house sorted down there so I just drove down and hung out with a bunch of 7 or 8 guys who were just into Toyotas.”
Brent and the AE hit the track, mingled in the show, and after heading down the line knowing basically no one, came back with a swag of lifelong mates all thanks to the oldschool Toyota community and their robust, supportive attitude towards their chosen culture.
Brent’s not totally finished with the Trueno yet, though. Like all good oldschool projects they’re never quite finished, and always in development. Further work cleaning up the bay, an electronics update and general aesthetic tidy-ups are on the menu while he also juggles a stonkingly immaculate R32 GT-R project as his main focus.
But if you see Brent and the cream-dream AE around don’t hesitate to give him a shout, or a thumbs up and you’ll be met with an enthusiastic grin and keen yarn about his chosen passion. Because after all, you meet the nicest people in slammed boxy 1980s hatch!
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This article originally appeared in New Zealand Performance Car issue 308
SPEC LIST
Heart
ENGINE: 20B Bridgeport (Dowelled)
BLOCK: Long crank
INTAKE: Mazda Cosmo intake manifold
EXHAUST: Four-inch stainless to custom muffler
TURBO: Garrett G42
WASTEGATE: TiALSport 60mm
BOV: TiALSport QR50
FUEL: Radium fuel tank
IGNITION: IGN-1A
ECU: Link Extreme X ECU + 3x Link Razor PDM system
COOLING: Custom triple pass radiator, Green Brothers custom-made dual oil coolers
EXTRA: Water cooling spray system
Drive
GEARBOX: Holinger RD6
CLUTCH: Direct Clutch
FLYWHEEL: Direct Clutch
DIFF: Winters Quick Change
Support
STRUTS: 2-way KW adjustable coilovers
BRAKES: (F) Brembo brakes (R) RX7 factory rear brakes
ARMS/KNUCKLES: Part Shop MAX multi-link and steering angle kit.
Shoes
WHEELS: Volk Racing Rays TE37V Mark ll (F) 17×9-inch (-20) (R) 18×10 (-25)
TYRES: 245/40/17 (F) 265/35R18 (R)
Exterior
BODYKIT: Rocket Bunny Aero (V1)
WING: Luxury Sports
PAINT: Winter White
Interior
SEATS: Sabelt XPAD
HARNESSES: Sabelt
STEERING WHEEL: OMP 350mm Rally 2 spoke
PEDALS: Tilton 600 series floor mount pedal box
INSTRUMENTATION: MoTeC dash, MoTeC 15 button CAN keypad, gauges
Performance
POWER: 634kW
TORQUE: Heaps
BOOST: 21psi
FUEL TYPE: E85
TUNER: Richard Green
Driver Profile
DRIVER/OWNER: Rene Richmond
AGE: 36
LOCATION: Taupo
OCCUPATION: Business Director
BUILD TIME: Ongoing
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Eight years
THANKS: My wife Jade, Richard Green, Chris Green, Carl Thompson and Darren Kelly
