I first came across Shion’s FD on a visit to Car Shop Glow on a rainy day in the summer of 2022. Glow is situated on a corner lot in Nerima City, and has little to no street parking available save for a narrow strip of sidewalk against the side of the shop. Shion’s FD had been skillfully parked in this very spot, making it impossible to miss. My visit to Glow was purely casual as we had dinner plans that evening with Hara and friends, and so I was pleasantly surprised to have something to photograph in the meantime.
The first thing to catch my eye was the large Zero Two decal on the back windshield; I knew this only because I’ve always been a fan of the typography from Darling and The Franxx, despite never having seen the anime. Coincidentally to all of this, Nerima City is considered the birthplace of anime in Japan, and Shion is clearly a fan of anime himself. Not to the point of a full itasha livery, but he’ll be the first to admit his fondness for anime and all things Akihabara. Anyway, Shion had dropped the car off to get a Glow front splitter and rear diffuser installed over the week; he had recently acquired the car and was in the process of making it his own, and matching the existing RE-Amemiya GT-AD kit with the CSG demo car specifications is a naturally good looking combination. Shion is from a younger generation, is a trained hairstylist by trade, and keeps up with Japan’s latest trends in style and fashion, so it’s no wonder that he would start modifying the FD so soon. Influenced heavily by time attack and turning to Hara and Glow for advice, the modifications began with new aero, and currently the car is back at CSG for an entirely new engine setup featuring a V-mount, side-ported 13b, and single turbo conversion. A new hood is also on order to replace the Scoot Sports FRP unit currently installed.
SUMMER 2022
I posted the photos I had taken before dinner on Instagram, not knowing who the car belonged to. Shion eventually came across them, as he happened to follow the IG page, and reached out to me. This was around the time I had just finished writing the Sector One article on the old RE Amemiya LW-7 FD, which I photographed around Akihabara’s ‘Maid Street’ area (where Sector One was located at the time). I’ve always found it interesting how itasha cars look very out of place anywhere except Japan, specifically in Akihabara, where it’s become a generally acceptable way to modify your car. I don’t know enough about itasha to say when the anime and manga culture collided with automotive tuning, but I don’t dislike it when it is executed well. After meeting Leise and getting to photograph the Sector One FD in the city, I made it a point to try and arrange more similar shoots. It’s not necessarily what we’re used to here but I personally enjoy the creative opportunities that the backdrops of Tokyo lend themselves to.
With Shion being a fan of both anime, Akihabara, and RX7’s, he unsurprisingly took a liking to that photoset, and so we made loose plans for a similar shoot of his car during my next trip to Japan. Fast forward to November of last year and we were able to arrange to meet in Akihabara for a night.
Looking forward to eventually shooting this car on track, as it seems Shion is naturally progressing toward the goal of tracking the car. Enjoy the gallery – feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about the car.
