I met Masato during my recent trip to Garage Mak. He and our friend Tsubaki both attended the same engineering school, and naturally became friends over their first year of college. While I was in Nagano, I had the chance to get a closer look at his S13.
If you follow this blog, chances are you’ve seen Mr. Harada’s Z32 more than a couple times. He is a good friend, and I always take time to visit when I’m in Japan. Just recently, […]
“People can’t be just tied together. They have to connect. Otherwise, they’ll find themselves bound hand and foot.” A quote (from the Japanese movie NANA) that holds true in most cases; especially when referring to […]
Here’s a car that you don’t see on the race track too often; especially if you live in any other country but Japan. I spotted this Honda City (GA1) at Tsukuba during Evome. Needless to […]
The Varis 86 dropped by Tsukuba last weekend adorned in the new full widebody kit offered by Varis. This aero kit in it’s entirety is pretty amazing; much more aggressive than their Arising line. – […]
I had to make a quick run to Akihabara one afternoon (I say ‘had’ because I don’t particularly enjoy going there) to pick up something from ヨドバシカメラ, a.k.a 12 story Mega brain hemorrhage electronic/everything […]
I apologize for the lack of site updates, but I’ve been pretty busy that last couple days. I spent pretty much all of Thursday with Harada and Kume driving around Tokyo and shooting their […]
So, last Sunday turned out to be a little less than typical; well, kind of. Typical in setting and happening, it just had a little twist on the medium. We swung by Jay’s house to […]
.
Yesterday evening we decided to make the drive out to Riverside to visit Franklin. His car’s been down for awhile and he hasn’t been able to come down our way for awhile. I had been driving a lot this past week, and didn’t really feel like tacking on a drive all the way out to Riverside, so I got a ride with Allan and we both met Yuta over there. It’s been quite awhile since I did a Garage Life post, so I brought along my camera stuff to get a few shots – nothing fancy though. Not sure why, but I don’t really take pictures of what I do outside of events and stuff, but these types of post get good attention; so you can expect more day to day lifestyle type posts like this in the future. Anyway, click past the break for a few more shots.
.
If you were to imagine a specific car that, in your own mind, possessed the qualities of protector, or a guardian; what car would you choose? For me, it would always be the Mitsubishi EVO. Something about it just gives off a ‘sentry’ feel. Perhaps it’s the bold, boxy lines, it’s potential for great power or even it’s masculine stature. There is quite obviously a good amount of guardian like character in any EVO, but this one in particular, has more than most. I’ve never seen where Algier lives, but I bet I would feel pretty safe with his EVO standing watch over the neighborhood. Right, I’ll admit that the theme to this feature is a little far-fetched; but it’s still a bit amusing if you think about it. Modified cars coming to life to protect…the…people…oh my god I’m describing Transformers…damn. I knew I had heard of that concept somewhere. Anyway, all that aside, Algier has put together an extremely quality build that I’ve really taken a liking too. This past weekend I flew up to the bay area and made the short trip over to San Jose the next morning to meet up with Algier. He had just spent the entire previous day at HIN so I was thankful that he was able to make it out for a few hours the next morning. Click past the break to see more of this insanely clean 8.
.
To say that we’ve come quite a way in pushing the bounds of modification would be an understatement for most. On occasions where influence and creativity converge over time, amazing results can happen; as is the case with the Miata you see here. Cody’s pursuit of building the perfect Roadster has been a long one, and one where Japanese prominence has prevailed in all areas. From the Super Lap styled exterior, to the adequately tuned engine, he’s transformed this NA from a mild mannered sports car into a battle ready track devil. Honestly I can’t even remember how I got to talking with Cody (I think through NDF Facebook), but as soon as I realized that he was the one responsible for this build, I was itching to get my hands on it. We’re both pretty busy guys, but we managed to met up a few weeks later to knock out a quick photoshoot. If you will, please disregard the obscure title reference to the Paul McCartney song for a few minutes and click past the break to see just what this one of a kind Miata is all about.
.
Those of you who know Spoon, know that they are no strangers of the endurance. So it comes as no surprise that they compete in the Super Taikyu series in Japan. What may come as a surprise though, is that this is the last time we may ever see a Spoon car in the traditional blue and yellow livery. As of the 2012 race season, Spoon has decided to do away with the iconic paint job that has adorned their cars for 25 years. This S2000 (AP1), seen at the official test day at Fuji Speedway, is their 2012 Super Taikyu entry and will be competing in the ST-4 class. This year’s drivers include Taketoshi Matsui, Yasunori Nakajima, and Tatsuru Ichishima – Mr. Spoon himself. As of last weekend, the first round of Super Taikyu has already concluded, and unfortunately Team Spoon did not fare well. You can see the official results here. Hopefully, within the next couple days here, I can get to posting that coverage. Round 2 of Super Taikyu takes place at the end of April at Twin Ring Motegi. You can expect live coverage of that via NDF’s Facebook page, as I’ll be traveling to Japan to meet up with JDM Clips for a super terrific Japan motor sports tour. For now, click past the break for a closer look at Team Spoon’s S2000.
. The middle of November brought about a few new releases from Rays Engineering. Among them was the TE37 Tokyo Time Attack. So far it’s only offered in a 19″ size, but it is after […]
.
Welcome to the most down S2000 ever built; OK, one of them at least. JDM Clips recently attended the J’s Racing Fair at Super Autobacs in Tokyo last week to get a closer glimpse at a couple of their machines. In attendance was their GT-Type wide-bodied S2000 done up in a style only J’s can get away with. Don’t be fooled though, this AP1 has more than just good looks and a tight body – click past the break to find out more.
Welcome back to the second part of the R’s Meeting coverage from Fuji. I’m considering this a remote post because I’m actually not at home right now. If you’re a regular follower you’ll have seen my post about my computer crashing; so I flew to Oakland to get some software from my friend in Hayward. While I’m here I thought I may as well post up the second part of the Skyline madness. Remember we have a facebook page now – be sure to friend up on the side bar. Cheers!
.
I like Team Burst. You probably like them too. I’d even venture to say that out of all the organized drift ‘teams’ in Japan, that Team Burst is the most recognized. This is largely due in part to Naoki Nakamura’s drift skill and media attention; whether it’s wanted or not. I’m sure that you’ve heard by now all the recent news that has surrounded Naoki, but if you haven’t click here, and then here. With that in mind, I thought it would be cool to do a little spotlight on the cars he drives in regularly, and for D1SL. I shot these on the last day of TAS, and you can see that the D1 banners have been removed already. Click past the break for the gallery.
