CHAPTER 3: The Torque of a Wind-up Toy.

CHAPTER 3: The Torque of a Wind-up Toy.

During the daily grind, Turtle was a little unhappy with the fact that, whilst going up hills, he had to shift Lola down to 4th and sometimes 3rd in order to get any kind of response. This car was so weak compared to the MR2 he'd grown accustomed to. He also hated the way the exhaust sounded, so restricted, so worn-out, like it hadn't been changed in over 50 years.



Also, at stop lights, there really was no power to get a good launch. Turtle was often left behind when the lights turned green.



The only explanation for this lack of power must be that the engine is on its last legs and the exhaust system needs an overhaul.

However, this posed a problem. Turtle had very little knowledge about fixing cars and owned almost no tools. Even though he had access to an array of automotive tools, he wouldn't know the first thing about changing or rebuilding an engine. The biggest job Turtle had done to date by himself was an oil change! The only solution then? Throw money at it!



So, by doing some research, saving some money and collecting some needed parts (such as a TRD 4-2-1 header he bought from a guy in Daly City on the night of the worst storm in years),



Turtle chose to rebuild his existing engine instead of replacing it. Having a 4agze, the supercharged motor was an option, but it was too expensive and rare an option at that time. So after dropping $1200 for the rebuild (and a new exhaust and drilled and slotted rotors),



the mechanic he went to promptly made it rain.



Just a little bit more power was all he needed, and Turtle was convinced that this rebuild would do just the trick. Now all Turtle needed to do was wait...



... and wait...



... and wait...



... until finally he was able to drive Lola again.



In retrospect, there was a reason why the MR2, with virtually the same engine, was so much faster than than Lola. There was a reason why the MR2 was able to pull and gain speed whilst climbing up a hill in 5th gear. It is an unbeknownst (to Turtle) fact called:

POWER TO WEIGHT RATIO: The idea that the same horsepower with less weight will yield bigger gains than with more weight. A simple idea, really. The MR2 was few hundred pounds lighter than Lola, therefore, the same horsepower yielded a better response.


So although the put-put sounding exhaust was gone, and the rebuilt engine felt fresh and slightly more responsive, it still didn't compare to the way the MR2 pulled.



Worse still is the fact that Lola was entered to run in the pod races on Tatooine the day after Turtle got her back.



And sadly, Lola finished in last place. Lola was so far behind in fact that the stadium was completely empty when she finished!



Not even a Jawa stayed to try and haggle engine parts...



Oh well. At least Turtle was able to check "rebuild the engine" off the list and move onto the next project.

FTH

Chapter 2: Oh, So THAT'S What a Money Pit Looks Like

Chapter 2: Oh, So THAT'S What a Money Pit Looks Like

After getting the money together to pay for the car, Turtle went to the unusually blond Asian fellow and received the key.

Directly after, Turtle went to a nearby business park to begin with the training. From this day forth, Turtle was going to become the bestest drifter in the world.

That is, until something important fell off his car. Right after the very first corner, something made the most awful scraping noise Turtle had ever heard.

Oh, look at that, it's not just a piece that fell off. It took part of the FRAME with it!

Embarrassed, Turtle had to find a single piece of string to tie the rod back up. He dragged it all the way to a surplus computer parts store, where he bought a single wire for like $3.

After consulting with C4AG and a local enthusiast named Roy, Turtle found out that the piece that had been broken off was the part of the frame that held something called the PANHARD rod. Turtle thought that was a weird and slightly dirty name for a car part. Roy happened to have a Battle Version panhard rod that he sold to Turtle for the low, low price of $175.

This wasn't the only problem, however, for Turtle still needed to find someone to weld the frame back on. He found a dude in Milpitas who would do it, and after he was done, Turtle said good-bye to another $250.

By handing over the $250, he received an S shaped stock panhard rod back.

From here, Turtle had a revelation of what the hell happened to his new car. After receiving the deposit, as a last hurrah, the young Asian fellow must have ghost drifted his whip,

Right into a curb.

The pay-outs don't end here. Turtle wanted to get new tires and an alignment.

Only to find out that his front bearings were bad. He then had to get those done with the previously mentioned Roy.

All of the initial problems left Turtle's wallet a little worse for wear.

At this point, Turtle felt a little overwhelmed and in over his head. He had questioned whether this would all even be worth it. It was a car all his own, but with even worse problems that Lana ever seemed to have (aside from the engine and transmission issue in the end). Turtle didn't even want to learn how to auto-cross OR drift anymore in fear that something else might fall off or break.

But how could Turtle ever deny a face like that?

FTH

Chapter 1: Good-bye Big Truck, Hello Little Car

With Lana on indefinite leave, Turtle was offered to drive his dad's MK1 NA MR2 for a little while.

Going from a truck on 33 inch tires with a 3 inch lift to a car that was probably 3 inches from the ground was going to be a strange transition.

Or was it???

With this car, Turtle was able to bob and weave through traffic with the greatest of ease.

Going up hills was a cinch. Even though the engine was normally aspirated, the engine still pulled up them in 5th gear! And going downhill? Forget about it!

Turtle was having so much fun with this car, but truth be told it wasn't his, and his dad needed it for work. One day when he and his co-worker were heading out to lunch, his co-worker mentioned that the engine in the MR2 is the exact same engine as in the 85-87 Corolla GT-S.

Having little knowledge about compact cars in general, Turtle didn't know that a "Corolla GT-S" was. After a brief explanation from his friend, Turtle started to take notice of a car that was always "hidden in plain sight." A car that was often overlooked by enthusiasts amidst the more popular Civics and Integras. He was told about a website called "Club4ag" and from there he started to research what made this Corolla so special.

Real-Wheel Drive. Sold.

Soon after he registered and browsed for a bit, Turtle noticed on the main Club4ag page that there was a link to watch a video of the opening sequence to a relatively unknown (at that time) anime called "Initial D". Coming off of an anime addiction of several years, Turtle foresaw the impending demand for this car from rabid anime fans. From then the race was on to pick up a GT-S before something that would eventually be called "Initial D tax" was imposed on all Corollas, GT-S and SR-5 alike. Turtle searched Club4ag's classifieds (back in that day the cars for sale were mixed in with all of the other parts for sale) as well as searching through the free local classifieds (craigslist had not yet gained traction).

It would appear that Turtle was already too late, as the first car he went to see was a "Panda", or the two-tone white and black paint scheme. This one was found around Clement St. in The City. According to his friend, the prices were already on the rise. Before then, a $1200 GT-S was common. By this time, they were going for for $2500 and up.

And actually it was 3-tone, as the door jambs and the engine bay were red. Kind of a turn-off. Turtle did make an offer on that panda, but in retrospect he was lucky that the young asian boy said that his momma didn't accept the offer. This is not a fabrication of the truth. He literally said "I need to ask my mom about it" and then later he said "no" with no counter offer.

After the loss of that offer, Turtle continued to look and found a silver hatchback being sold by another young asian guy, but this time in San Jose.

Though this one was silver, it had a black hood. Turtle kinda liked that. Even though it wasn't perfect, Turtle began to see its potential.

Turtle found it unusual that two sellers in a row would say Corolla in the way they did, but from that day on, something about it stuck.

Turtle may just have found the car he was looking for.

FTH

PROLOGUE:

Once upon a time in a magical land called The Bay Area, Turtle began to reminisce about the days of old.



Back in the day when he was young he's not a kid anymore but sometimes he sits and wishes he was a kid again, Turtle was enjoying the end of another great day with his first love, Lana the 4Lana.



With Lana, Turtle felt like he could take on the world, and together they were virtually unstoppable. With Lana, Turtle took on the Zombie Apocalypse.





A thrilling time indeed. The Zombie Apocalypse wasn't an easy crisis to deal with. It erased nearly 60% of the earth's population. If it weren't for the island faring people of the Pacific Rim, including Australia and New Zealand, there wouldn't have been enough quarantine zones for humanity to flee to and survive.

As the sun continues to set, Turtle can't help but feel a sense of satisfaction about Lana, his trusty little truck (or SUV in some circles, but 'truck' is easier to say. And cooler).



Together they helped John Connor fight in the war with Skynet. Another event which succeeded in thinning out the herd.



Lana's top is detachable, so the resistance fitted a freaking gatling gun on her! Look as they take on an effing Hunter-Killer!



Ahh, yes. John Connor of course led us to victory, but now that the war with skynet was over, it was time for some much needed R&R. As dusk settles over the mighty Pacific,



Turtle decided it's time to go back home, when suddenly... BOOM!



Turtle couldn't believe his eyes. Lana was being lifted off the ground by something massive!



As he looked up in shock he realized that the all three Houses of Arrakis, The Houses of Atredies, Ordos AND Harkonnen have conspired together and managed to take control of an effing SANDWORM to take down LANA!



(The 3 houses must not have sold a whole lot of spice lately because it looked like they could only afford a mini-sandworm, but one might suppose that seeing Lana get mauled is actually more terrifying than "one second there, next second gone" in one giant sandworm gulp. Anyways...)

Turtle looked in horror as the sandworm threw Lana like a ragdoll onto the ground.



The sandworm didn't tear Lana in half, but it ate the most important parts to any car or truck: the engine and drivetrain. From that point, Lana fell into a car coma.



Unable to snap Lana out of her car coma, Turtle towed Lana back home and pushed her into a spot in the driveway where she could rest.



Since the Zombie Apocalypse and the War with Skynet were more about survival and not about money, Turtle didn't have the means to revive Lana, so he made the tough decision to leave her there in cryogenic stasis.








He vowed that one day he would be able to revive her.



One day... But for then, Turtle needed to move on.



FTH