Curiosity was the real reason i took interest in cars, this was back in the early 90's. It all happened when one faithful morning on my way to school. The car my dad drove was side swiped with me and my dad inside. We walked away without without a scratch.
The very next day when i got home there was a car parked in the drive way. It was a Toyota Starlet EP70, little did i know what was to become of me after that. It was a sluggish little thing, not the kind of car a teenager would be interested in. The ideal car at the time would be something like Knight Industries Two Thousand or better know as "Kinghtrider's Car"...or KITT.
When my dad got his car back from the workshop, the Toyota was left under the hot sun and rain to rust. I would occasionally take it for a cruise around the neighborhood until one afternoon i realize the exhaust has broken off eaten away by rust. So i thought if the car is moving forward the exhaust gas would get left behind in the wind, so there was no need to have an exhaust pipe running all the way to the back of the car.
Being ahead of my time so i thought, i broke off the now hanging rear end of the pipe and was left with only a few meters of exhaust pipe left from the middle of the car to the exhaust manifold. To my surprise the car was a little bit faster with the shorter exhaust. I've discovered something new! so i thought. But that wasn't the end of the story.
The ultimate performance mod back then was engine swap. No respectful weekend warrior race boy would dare brag about their ride if they have not done it or at least have plans to do it. Engine swap would transform any John Doe to Tom Jones in an instant. That was the story back than.
The question now is, why did i brought up old forgotten story now that Toyota Hiace is the only relevant topic here. Customizing has always worked for me. Being an average Joe, buying the ideal car that would suite my every need is out of the question. Customizing has always been the way and the backbone of motorsport in Malaysia and many other part of the world ever since cars where invented.
The invasion of bolt on performance parts in the late 90's has made horse power easily available. People can gain Hp without thinking. They just need to spend more and bolt on everything. More and more local tuners welcome this concept with open arm hoping to strike gold.
Over the years this has transformed many of local tuners to performance part traders and they have little or no actual knowledge of their own. Since they didn't discover the knowledge and relied mainly on 2nd hand knowledge discovered by others, they will for ever be a few steps behind the people who actually discovered the knowledge or the creator of this knowledge and will for ever be followers.
Without leading knowledge they are unable to lead the market by not give the consumers leading product. They eventually or perhaps for ever will be market followers until they change their mindset.
The video i found on Youtube celebrates the true spirit of innovation, creativity. Next time you see a local custom built drag car down the quarter strip remember that its not just the car and the driver, but the pride of the entire team, the true spirit of racing.
The very next day when i got home there was a car parked in the drive way. It was a Toyota Starlet EP70, little did i know what was to become of me after that. It was a sluggish little thing, not the kind of car a teenager would be interested in. The ideal car at the time would be something like Knight Industries Two Thousand or better know as "Kinghtrider's Car"...or KITT.
When my dad got his car back from the workshop, the Toyota was left under the hot sun and rain to rust. I would occasionally take it for a cruise around the neighborhood until one afternoon i realize the exhaust has broken off eaten away by rust. So i thought if the car is moving forward the exhaust gas would get left behind in the wind, so there was no need to have an exhaust pipe running all the way to the back of the car.
Being ahead of my time so i thought, i broke off the now hanging rear end of the pipe and was left with only a few meters of exhaust pipe left from the middle of the car to the exhaust manifold. To my surprise the car was a little bit faster with the shorter exhaust. I've discovered something new! so i thought. But that wasn't the end of the story.
The ultimate performance mod back then was engine swap. No respectful weekend warrior race boy would dare brag about their ride if they have not done it or at least have plans to do it. Engine swap would transform any John Doe to Tom Jones in an instant. That was the story back than.
The question now is, why did i brought up old forgotten story now that Toyota Hiace is the only relevant topic here. Customizing has always worked for me. Being an average Joe, buying the ideal car that would suite my every need is out of the question. Customizing has always been the way and the backbone of motorsport in Malaysia and many other part of the world ever since cars where invented.
The invasion of bolt on performance parts in the late 90's has made horse power easily available. People can gain Hp without thinking. They just need to spend more and bolt on everything. More and more local tuners welcome this concept with open arm hoping to strike gold.
Over the years this has transformed many of local tuners to performance part traders and they have little or no actual knowledge of their own. Since they didn't discover the knowledge and relied mainly on 2nd hand knowledge discovered by others, they will for ever be a few steps behind the people who actually discovered the knowledge or the creator of this knowledge and will for ever be followers.
Without leading knowledge they are unable to lead the market by not give the consumers leading product. They eventually or perhaps for ever will be market followers until they change their mindset.
The video i found on Youtube celebrates the true spirit of innovation, creativity. Next time you see a local custom built drag car down the quarter strip remember that its not just the car and the driver, but the pride of the entire team, the true spirit of racing.
4th generation Toyota Hiace (1989–2005)
3rd generation Toyota Hiace (1982-1989)
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