WEBMINING> The Video That Made Keiichi Famous
In the “History of Drifting” section of my hardcover photographic documentary book, Drifting (Motorbooks, 2006), I mentioned Pluspy as the first video that brought Japanese mountain racing (also known as touge running) and drifting to light in Japan.
Some drifting fans may have heard of this video, but most have not. Even for drifting enthusiasts who have been following drifting since the 1990s, this video isn’t exactly well known, because it is so damn hard to get! I didn’t even know about it until the VHS copy of this tape was given to me as a gift back in 2000 or 2001 by a certain Mr. Ishida from Advan Japan.
Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, the legendary Pluspy video that made Keiichi Tsuchiya famous in the underground Japanese street racing scene is on YouTube. It features a young Keiichi Tsuchiya running through the mountains in his AE86 Levin 3-door.
So here it is! Enjoy it… a fitting video for celebrating August 6th as Hachiroku Day, don’t you think?
:: Antonio Alvendia
