Walk, don't sprint. It's the journey not the destination.

Before I type up whatever this becomes, I want to thank my mate Zigg for being in my corner and backing the shit I'm trying to figure out. 

This ones all you, so enjoy.

This story starts here, a reddit post from a decade ago. I'm not sure how Ziggy came across it but he did. It was brought to my attention in a discord message followed by a mission that went something like;

Trying to map this.

I'd say less than half an hour later he sent me a google maps pin for it.

I was very impressed. Even if the fence gave it some geo-specificity. However, the kicker was google had only mapped it up to 2014. So you had to go further down the street to get as recent as 2025. At which date the car was no longer present.

You'd presume that meant the car was gone, but that seemed less fun. And so schrodinger's Toyota remained in a state of limbo. But by this stage the CS in me had kicked in and I'd become invested in the story of the little rust box. So I asked a mate whose sharehouse was close by if she could check if it's there...

 

A dead end. No car, no story. A new clue had emerged that the pathway had been re-done and tree replaced. This meant there was a chance that a change of environment had prompted the owner had to possibly move it on. So then it became a game of, is it on the property? Did it go the scrappers, or does the story continue?

So what happened next?

Well, I was living out of my parents shed, working as a labourer and riding doordash during the height of the fuel crisis. I'd just broken up with a girlfriend, and threw myself at uni harder than I ever had before. Safe to say while that little part of my life was in many ways miserable, it was freeing to feel back at the start again.

Listening to music doin the dash I'd discovered mc-duo BAKKES & CHANZ. I felt from their music I was able to determine they had a real perspective worth investigating. 

They possessed the credentials and cultural literacy in their music most of the aus rap scene is missing. They spoke to me and so I wanted to speak to them. I messaged BAKKES to score an interview. Come the two week mid semester break, I booked the cheapest flights, tee'd up a couch to surf and backed myself. Special thanks to Tom for dropping me at the airport before heading to work.

You can read my interview by clicking on the image below;

But this put me in Melbourne, close to the Sprinter spot, and with some time to kill. So on my extra day I decided to just walk my way over and shoot street photos of anything that caught my eye.

It was funny to cut down from where the infamous skate spot Lincoln Square used to be and find myself at another geo-treasure - Bouverie street. I stood on the corner and listened to Posseshot - My Own Way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEkwt2pPpeY&t=704s

 

Visual reminders told me I'd left Adlay~detroit, commo land, to stroll mel~burn, falc city.

But eventually I'd walked my way to the end of the line...

I peeked the property, lapped the block and cut back down the ally. No dice. At the time this seemed like the end of the story. But it was still schrodinger's Toyota without an obituary of some kind. Either way the story was on lay up.

After I finished the last blog post I didn't have anything lined up. And so I thought what kinda blog is this? What do I want to do?

And so I decided I'd make an Instagram reel, bringing a viewer up to speed and tag every AE86 owner in Aus I could find. I figured someone in their community might know something and I'd be able to close the case.

I'd flicked, line was out, bita bait. No bites.

And then Melbourne artist, photographer and car enthusiast Oscar Lambros Sallas, aka @OSCRSLLS on IG gave me the info...

"I first saw it in 2013 and would go and look at it after school every day."     

"The dude used to move it once a year."

"The neighbours hated it and always called the council to get it removed but they couldn't do anything cos he kept it regoed."

"Someone I know lucked out and got to buy it this Jan and idk what he's doin with it now."

So who is the bloke who would be taking pride and joy in goin deep in the misery that is a rusty Toyota AE86?

Well, some say he drinks 98 octane with a slice of lime.

And some say when he exhales it measures ten pounds boost.

But for the purposes of protecting my sources, you'll only get to know him as...

The Australian Stig.

"First time seeing the car was cool, looked untouched and fully original."

The OG owners decided it was time to move the car on in the hopes it would get a second lease on life. From a massive stack of letters they pretty much picked at random. Called a bloke who when given the opportunity passed it over to the man for the job, the Stig.

"It only has 150,XXX kms."

"It was still registered and started up first try, battery was charged, and the owners said they'd drive it once a month to the local Woolies and back."

"Told me to put 95 or 98 in it because it pings on 91"

"Plans for the car is to one day restore it or find a corolla addicted person to possibly buy it"

One car nut to another the Stig and I talked all kinds of nonsense over the phone. He's a top bloke with a mean set of his own stories, and will no doubt keep the tale of this eighties econo-box goin. The AE86 is a pretty significant car internationally. Even in its home town of Melbourne it's worn on the title of Shady Nasty's track AE86.

As is tradition on CS I write what song I'd play during a fantasy drive, but I think I've just done that. Instead imagine how much cooler initial D woulda been if Takumi ripped a blue meanie.

Cheers for reading.