TOM’S Angel T01: As Uncommon & Actual As It Will get

In a method, I envy a lot of you.

You see, rising up I used to be by no means actually into video video games. Consequently, I discovered myself trying on the TOM’S Angel T01 I shot final month in Kyoto, as simply one other tiny, bizarre sports activities automotive from Japan. Now I slap myself, as a result of it’s so way more than that.

My buddies tried to get me into console combating video games once I was younger, however I wasn’t captivated by the pixels and energy ups they have been. I used to be extra considering the true world of BMX and Nirvana. Plus, every time I used to be handed a controller, I would often be maimed after lower than two minutes of gameplay.

If solely I had given gaming an extended shot although, as a result of I’m pretty dexterous and my reflexes aren’t horrible. If I did, I in all probability would have stumbled throughout this little legend within the PlayStation world.

Lots of you’ll know precisely what this automotive is, and will even have fond reminiscences of driving it within the digital realm. For these of you who’re like me or are too younger to recollect, I’ll deliver you on top of things on the precise, one-of-one TOM’S Angel T01.

TOM’S (Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport) Racing has been round since 1974 and is a Toyota factory-supported race staff and elements producer. Over the past 5 many years, TOM’S have left an actual mark on the motorsport world with too many victories to record. They even constructed Formulation 3 engines and chassis for some time.

To rejoice 20 years in enterprise, most different tuning corporations would have simply rattled off a run of anniversary-badged gadgets. Not TOM’S. They determined to fulfil a long-time dream by constructing their very own mid-engine race automotive for the street.

The thought was to construct one Angel T01 idea, after which both supply the mannequin as a low-volume manufacturing automotive or promote the design and all rights to a different producer. Finally, neither of these situations panned out, so solely the prototype T01 – this automotive – exists.

The Angel T01 debuted on the 1994 Tokyo Auto Salon, having been constructed at TOM’S’ manufacturing facility within the UK, with design by Martin Oglivie, whose resume contains the Lotus F1 T100. The Angel shares some design similarities with Lotus vehicles –  lightness, compactness, a low centre of gravity and chassis rigidity.

The Angel T01’s dimensions may need you considering there’s a kei automotive chassis below the FRP physique work, however that’s not the case – the automotive was designed from the bottom up.

It does use a bunch of OE Toyota elements to avoid wasting prices on manufacturing and growth – the AE92 Corolla hatchback taillights maybe being the obvious – but it surely’s the bits that have been designed by TOM’S that make this automotive particular anyway.

All the pieces from its bathtub carbon composite monocoque to its gull wing doorways have been customized constructed. The T01 makes use of double wishbone suspension with adjustable Spax dampers all spherical, plus four-wheel disc brakes with bias adjustment.

The engine is a 1.6L 20-valve 4A-GE from an AE101 Corolla – outputting 160hp in inventory kind – mounted in a rear-mid place and driving the T01’s rear wheels by means of the unique AE101 5-speed handbook gearbox. The radiator, which is mounted horizontally below the entrance overhang, is a Ford half.

Given the automotive weighs simply 700kg (1,543lb), it’s fast. TOM’S initially claimed a 0-100km/h time of 5.5-seconds, however later updates made to the engine imply it’s in all probability even sooner now.

Air con got here customary within the T01, but it surely wanted to because the doorways’ home windows are mounted polycarbonate items that may’t be rolled down. The windscreen was taken from a Lancia Stratos.

Whereas the T01 may be one of many extra well-known idea vehicles on the market attributable to its recreation look, it’s truly one among an extended record of one-off creations. A number of the coolest fantasy-to-full-scale ideas embody Aston Martin’s Bulldog, the Saab Aero-X, Ferrari’s 512 Modulo, the Yamaha OX99-11, and Alfa Romeo’s TZ3 Corsa which, just like the Angel, was constructed to rejoice an anniversary, Alfa’s a centesimal to be precise.

Some, if not most idea vehicles or celebratory autos are constructed on current platforms, so TOM’S deserves additional brownie factors for having designed and constructed an entire automotive from scratch.

I’ll not have the nostalgia of limitless gameplay etched in my thoughts, however I don’t assume I actually wanted it to be smitten with this little crimson unicorn.

I’m eternally grateful to the Angel T01’s custodian for giving me a better take a look at this ultra-rare piece of Japanese automotive historical past, and to TOM’S for creating such a cool anniversary current to themselves within the first place.

Toby Thyer
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