Drifters x Bootleggers
Grip and Drift
Drifting as a grassroots hobby or as a highly competitive motorsport share a history rooted in the principles of optimum slip angle and yaw. Basic grip driving techniques focus on maintaining grip while cornering, braking, or accelerating. However, at the elite level of grip racing, almost imperceptible levels of oversteer can generate maximum tire grip and, consequently, the fastest lap times. In the broader context of Japanese racing during the 1960s and early 1980s, many road series utilized low-grip bias ply tires. This low grip environment meant that achieving the fastest lap times necessitated high levels of slip angle, as demonstrated in this video.
Kunimitsu Takashi’s car is visibly in a state of oversteer, and the angle of the front tires does not match the trajectory of the turn. In this specific video, the visibly obvious slip angle and yaw contribute to a faster lap time. In the context of drifting, Kunimitsu Takashi is often credited as the “father of drift.” This title stems from the widely accepted idea that Kunimitsu served as the primary inspiration for Keiichi Tsuchiya’s motorsports career and driving style. Keiichi Tsuchiya is more commonly known as the “drift king.” However, Tsuchiya’s early career in both Japanese entertainment and motorsports propelled the style and eventually distinct motorsport drifting.
Tsuchiya’s Motorsport Career
While Tsuchiya’s racing career spanned from the late 70s into the early 2000s, the 1984 Fuji Freshman series, the 1985 All Japan Touring Car, and 1986 Corolla Sprinter Cup are particularly important to drifting history. During these years, Tsuchiya mastered the AE86 Corolla chassis as well as oversteer in both stylistic and racing applications. Tsuchiya’s racing dominance, and his ability to master the light chassis on basic tire compounds, allowed him to use oversteer as a legitimate racing technique. However, he was also known to slide the car around during races excessively, often losing speed in the interest of showing off and entertaining the crowd. Following this knack for entertainment, Tsuchiya also made a series of street racing videos and later a whole show dedicated to car culture.
While Tsuchiya’s racing career spanned from the late 1970s into the early 2000s, the 1984 Fuji Freshman series, the 1985 All Japan Touring Car, and the 1986 Corolla Sprinter Cup are particularly important to drifting history. During these years, Tsuchiya mastered the AE86 Corolla chassis as well as oversteer in both stylistic and racing applications. Tsuchiya’s racing dominance, and his ability to master the lightweight chassis on basic tire compounds, allowed him to use oversteer as a legitimate racing technique. However, Tsuchiya was known to excessively slide during races, often sacrificing speed to entertain fans. Following his knack for entertainment, Tsuchiya also produced a series of street racing videos.
Pluspy and Street Drifting
One of these videos was released in 1987 as part of a series of short films known as “Pluspy,” documenting his unique street driving style in the mountains of Japan.
A quick skim through the video highlights a style very distinct from modern drifting. Speed is clearly a priority, with no attempt to “initiate” the drift before the corner. Instead, the slide often occurs after the apex, followed by Tsuchiya sliding on corner exit before straightening out. Tsuchiya also employs a technique from the rally world, using a four-wheel slide to set up for a straightened corner exit. Therefore, the “drift” is more of a natural phenomenon resulting from a driving style heavily influenced by Kunimitsu’s racing techniques. There is no use of clutch kicking or hand brake modulation to initiate and maintain oversteer throughout the downhill pass. In modern drifting, front steering grip is paramount, and many angle kits are designed to maximize front grip at or near full steering lock. The “Pluspy” footage rarely shows the front wheels at or near full steering lock. Instead, it is more common to see the car sliding with minimal steering angle. This means that the car maintains a sharp cornering angle while the steering angle is kept to a minimum, bearing a much closer resemblance to grip racing technique than contemporary drifting style.
Drifting and Cultural History.
As with any historical pursuit, tracing the factors leading to cultural phenomena is quite difficult. However, the release of “Pluspy” and its reception certainly helped popularize the style and sport. In fact, the video series gained so much notoriety that Tsuchiya’s racing license was briefly suspended. Once his license was reinstated, Tsuchiya himself continued to race in a variety of leagues until the early 2000s. He also spent much of his professional career in the genre of motorsport entertainment, hosting the massively popular Best Motoring series, and holding positions as a consultant and supervisor for the drifting Anime Initial D, which is very loosely based on Tsuchiya’s himself. He also made a famous appearance in Jeremy Clarkson’s Motorworld in 1995.
In this video, Clarkson makes it very clear that both the organized and street drifting crowds are full of young people. The following scene briefly covers a street drifting event and concludes with Clarkson interviewing a 21-year-old who just crashed his car on the mountain pass. The segment highlights how the drifting style began with young people driving their cars on mountain passes for fun, and how the more organized scene spawned from a demand for legal competition and risk free fun.
In a soundbite from Tsuchiya himself, he explains that the young people attracted to the sport “want to be racing drivers but they don’t have the money.” This is a crucial aspect of drifting history and its place in the modern car scene. Drifting at the grassroots level is perhaps the most affordable motorsport. While its skyrocketing popularity stateside has inflated the price of cars and the cost of competition, it remains popular among car enthusiasts with limited budgets looking to manifest their driving aspirations. This is a story you hear from many drifters today, who entered the sport because it was the cheapest and easiest entrance into motorsports.
Drifting holds a unique place in the broader history of motorsports. Initially, drifting grew from a style practiced by elite drivers and leagues in Japan. It was from these established and expensive racing leagues that drifting emerged as a genuinely unique interpretation of driving. The original pure style of drifting was without competition, existing in the mountains of Japan where the cost of entry was simply the cost of a car. Eventually, multiple leagues and types of competition developed, and elite drifting teams now must develop their own cutting-edge modifications and techniques to remain competitive, much like Kunimitsu did in the 1970s.
Bootleggers
Just as the history of drifting is undeniably Japanese, the sport of stock car racing and NASCAR is truly American. The prohibition era occurred right as cars became not only affordable, but fast, and the consequences of being caught moonshine running were dire. Therefore, moonshiner runners modified their cars with heavy rear springs to hide the load of illegal liquor and made their engines more powerful to haul that load and evade the police. This culture of making road cars fast in tandem with the end of prohibition spawned stock car racing and NASCAR in general.
Therefore, it is fair to say that NASCAR is a sort of historical foil to drifting. While drifting history is rooted in advanced techniques which generated a grassroots following, NASCAR’s grassroots origins started with modified passenger cars aimed at criminal enterprise. Therefore, it is no surprise that most of the American stock car leagues began after the end of prohibition.
Just as the history of drifting is undeniably Japanese, the sport of stock car racing and NASCAR is truly American. The Prohibition era coincided with affordable fast cars and moonshine runners who feared the consequences of being caught. Therefore, moonshine runners modified their cars with heavy rear springs to conceal the load of illegal liquor and improved their engines to deal with increased load and still be fast enough to evade the police. This culture of modifying road cars for speed, coupled with the end of Prohibition, gave rise to stock car racing and eventually NASCAR.
Therefore, it is fair to say that NASCAR serves as a historical counterpart to drifting. While drifting history is rooted in advanced techniques that cultivated a grassroots following, NASCAR's origins began with modified passenger cars used for criminal enterprise.
Our Foxbody Drift Build
Our current project aims to blend the rich histories of drift and moonshine running into our 1991 Mustang Foxbody. Located in southwest Virginia at the base of the Appalachian mountains, our shop has opted for a popular mini-stock racing power plant. The 2.3 Lima, named after its production factory in Ohio, is the go-to motor for many entry-level classes of circle track racing. For drifting, we've added forged internals, a ported head, a standalone ECU, and a T3 turbocharger, in order to incorporate some Japanese tuner flair to the simple American iron block.
For the body, we’re using American textile linen and flax fiber composite to create a “patina” shell, drawing inspiration from hues of rust and dirt reminiscent of moonshine runners and rat rod culture local to us. While our car is rooted in these American elements, we're also drawing inspiration from early 2000s street drift cars, by modifying our car for an extremely low stance, flared wheel arches, deep side skirts, and three-piece wheels.
