Car Spotlight >> H.d.o. D1 Celica Gt

To tell you the truth I was probably more excited about seeing Hideo Itakura's RA28 Celica GT liftback in Okayama than Yoshioka's FD. At lest it was out on track drifting! There is something so cool about seeing old vintage cars going sideways…

…especially when they look this good doing it!

The Celica actually debuted into the drifting scene late last year at Rd.11 of the MSC championship. The SR20 powering it was still in the set-up stage at the time…

…but since then the team have gotten the best out of the car and Itakura was ready to take it out for its first stint in D1.

Itakura never made it into the Best 16 but put on a great show trying to get the most out of his vintage-drifter.

I just can't get over how aggressive this thing is from every angle you look at it from!

You only need to check out the Celica briefly to realize that a lot of work has gone into it, making sure the chassis is nice and stiff to take the 500 or so horses the engine can throw at it. You can just about see the riveting around the suspension turrets.

No 18RG under the hood here! I've seen 1JZs and 2JZs swapped into this chassis in the past, but never an SR.

The massive N2-style fenders really make the car. No need to tub the front arches either, as you can see there is plenty of space to accommodate the increased steering angle.

I love how the front overfenders blend into the front lip spoiler.

The stock dash remains but it is joined by a custom center console and a ton of Defi gauges.

Watanabe wheels and fender mounted side mirrors, keeping it oldschool.

The Mustang-like rear end is one of the details I love most about the RA28.

It looks like Itakura is on the entry list for Round 5 & 6 up in Ebisu so this is not the first and last time we will be seeing this Celica in action this year. Now if only Kuma's Laurel, Yoshioka's 4-rotor FD and Suenaga's RX-8 are ready next month we will have one exciting line-up to feast our eyes on!

H.D.O.

-Dino Dalle Carbonare

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1

My new favorite pro-drift car! Interesting that the camber plates are rotated for full caster.

2

This is my favorite pro-drift car as well xD

3

18RG > SR20



Why use a Nissan motor when the car had a DOHC from the factory? Not to mention the plethura of late model Toyota engines to be had.

4

Weird, it says Goodyear, but the fronts match the Toyo R1R tread. I wonder if they ever get in "trouble" with their sponsors if they figure out they're not using their product.

5

Cool car, but check your grammar. It's awful.

6

Absolutly love this car,just needs a more cohersive looking sticker or paint scheme to stand out on top

7

Its cool to see someone try to drift an old school car again, know if some in the states would do it again it be great.

8

Should've went with a JZ engine =(

9

Yesss, been waiting for this one. Awesome spotlight Dino! Thanks a bunch!

10

For anyone that is curious H.D.O. stands for Hydraulic Drift Oldies. Itakura builds a ton of different cars and is a super cool guy.

11

is it me or does that thing resemble a MACH 1 at all....anyone?

12

I do not approve. A car like this should be Toyota powered. You wouldn't put a small block chevy in a '65 mustang why put a nissan engine in a celica. A 3SGTE would have served just as well if not better than the SR lump.

13

Doooope!!!! We need more cars in professional drift like this!! I'll even forgive the cross-pollination of motors if that's what it takes ;)

14

This car is unreal. I don't know why there aren't more old-school JDM cars in D1.

15

more caster= more angle

16

Old school celicas you gotta love them.

17

Looks fantastic.

18

Oh God, how can a car that is soooooo easy to make it look good be sooooo horrible? :(

19

God I miss my '78 Celica...Funnest car I've ever owned!

20

i love this car... the livery needs a bit of of a change but the car is sick. kinda not feelin the sr20 on a Toyota but what ever gets em to his slideways...

21

OMG amazing Nice work Dino and thanks

22

if only the st162 could drift...

23

Awesome!

24

yeah Dino , i always agree with you, vintage drift is so awesome. love the looks, but it would be even better if lowered (also theyre probably sitting high due handling settings)

love the post Dino. you have a keen taste for cars i really relate to.

25

NICE TO SEE A CELI WITH A SR FOR ONCE!!!!!!!!!

26

i love it..best old school vintage car lately!!!

27

soooo sick

28

Would be beautiful if it didn't have the ugly arches

29

wallpapers of the 5th one down (sliding the corner) and the 10th one down (resting in the pits)???!??!

30

He is going to have trouble when he goes into Toyota to replace his oil filter! : ) love this vintage jap machine. Great article and awesome photos as usual.

31

Love it, the should have a D1 Vintage for pre 1985 vehicles. Would be awesome to see the older cars battling it out.

32

Very cool.. They put a lot of work in this car. I wonder what kind of suspension it have especially the rear end. I hope we see more of this car drifting. It would be nice if they put banana lights. Check out http://www.1stgencelica.com

33

couldnt agree more, putting the banana taillights will be like the icing on the cake for this car

34

I have a 77 GT liftback, and I'm throwing a 1uz V-8 in it once I locate a low mileage one so I'll have plenty of power to drift my Toy

35

It's not quite clear why, but the D1 organizers had a little surprise at Ebisu Circuit for us during

36

I really love seeing all these cool unique rides participating in D1 this year and the one I had my eyes

37

Despite the lack of sleep and exhaustion from driving down to Nagoya early this morning there was no

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