Traveling to Bandung, the capital city of Indonesia’s West Java province, reminded me of how both chaotic and rewarding it is to photograph cars when time is short. That being said, it wouldn’t have been possible at all if it wasn’t for the kindness of others.
Early last year (yes, that long ago), I made plans to feature a few cars owned by Hakim Putratama, owner of HPT Motosport. Then Covid hit, and travel restrictions put to bed any thoughts of seeing the shoots through – for the time being at least. Like many of you, I ended up being stuck at home – which isn’t so bad when you live in Bali – but tiresome all the same. So when restrictions began to lift recently, I knew what I needed to do. A refreshing weekend getaway sounded great; I just hadn’t counted on it being so hectic.
Bandung is the third most populous city in Indonesia, with 2.6 million people living in a 167km² area. I’m not sure what it’s like on weekdays, but during the weekend I visited, it was busy like nothing I’ve experienced before.
This led to a few challenges, the biggest being able to find quiet locations to shoot in. Thankfully, the guys at HPT Motosport and my friend Ervan were able to help out, and we ended up shooting two of Hakim’s cars.
The first is his AE86 Toyota Trueno, which just like the city of Bandung in which it resides, is a bit mad but a lot of fun. 501hp in a compact, lightweight chassis on a wet day will have that effect though.
What’s the source of all this power? Lifting the hood on Hakim’s AE86 reveals not the original 4A-GE, but a hard-tuned 3S-GTE pieced together by Progressive Motorsport.
The Toyota 2.0-liter DOHC 16-valve turbocharged four cylinder makes reasonable numbers in stock form, but to see over 500hp requires aftermarket intervention. While the crankshaft remains stock, the pistons are forged JE items and the forged rods are from Eagle. ACL Race bearings are used throughout.
Up top, the cylinder head features Brian Crower (BC) camshafts with HKS adjustable gears to dial them in, plus Supertech oversized valves and uprated springs.
Feeding the combustion chambers is a custom intake plenum, with fuel supplied via FIC 1,050cc injectors and a Walbro 440lph pump. On the exhaust side, you’ll find a custom tubular manifold and the hard-to-miss Owen Developments GBT turbocharger. A custom front-mount intercooler chills in the intake charge, but an AEM water/methanol injection system was recently added to further help suppress detonation. The whole engine package is managed by a Haltech Elite 1500 ECU.
With easily more than four times the power output of a stock AE86, the car’s original T50 gearbox has gone the way of the 4A-GE too, in its place a Toyota W-series 5-speed running a Competition Clutch twin-plate unit.
In the suspension and brake departments you’ll find ISX Type 2 coilovers and an AP Racing rotor and caliper kit at the front end.
Looking at its mechanical underpinnings, Hakim’s Toyota certainly has no shortage of performance, but that’s only one aspect of the project as a whole. The way the car looked was of equal importance, and to bring the AE86 up to spec visually, Franky Abednego of FA Autoworks was called upon to work his magic. The customized kit and custom blue paint is the result.
The final piece of the exterior puzzle was the wheels, and I don’t think anyone can argue with Hakim’s choice of gold-centered and bronze-lipped Work Equip 40s wrapped up in Toyo Proxes R888R semi-slicks.
Inside the car, there are no shortage of modifications either. From the roll cage to the TRD semi bucket seats and shift knob, Momo Prototipo C steering wheel, custom carbon fiber work and Defi gauges, the cabin fits perfectly with the rest of the build.
I would’ve loved to have spent a lot more time with Hakim’s AE86, but as it turned out, the majority of our morning was eaten up battling crazy traffic while scouting for quiet locations in Bandung (not easy, as I previously mentioned) and then trying to avoid security guards at the spots we found. Let’s not forget the weather, which threw another curveball, but to be honest, I think the rain only added to the shoot.
However, time was of the essence and we had another of Hakim’s cars to photograph. Anyone with a keen eye might have already spotted it in this image set, and I look forward to bringing you that story very soon.
Rick Muda
Instagram: ardskellig
