Continuing the worldwide event coverage from my corner of the world, I thought I's share with you pics from the Street Car Nats at the Suzuka Circuit Raceway yesterday. Great turn out and ran into some familar faces, so that was cool too. Hope you enjoy! http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/cometsrides/Street Car Nats Suzuka Japan/?albumview=slideshow
WOW!! Had no idea there where so many bitchin rides, lurking in Japan. How many where recently imported? Two thumbs up to the builders. Bet they have a real hard time, acquiring some of these custom and speed parts. That red Chevy II drag car???? Seems so off the hook from what you would expect to be a million miles away from Detroit. Wish there where more pictures of the people, but thanks-a-million for sharing regaurdless. JT
DAMN ! I missed it.... that would have been a nice ride from Atlanta. I think the nailhead could make that trip, what is it ? like 6000 miles?
Comet, great pics... The Street nats that was held here in Tokyo a couple of weeks back, there were few customs, and even less rods. From your pics, I would say that this Suzuka show, and the rod show you posted a month or so, have the Tokyo shows beat... I am looking forward to a Drag meet at Fuji in July..
What a great turnout, nice mix of styles, lowriders, kustoms, hot rods & stockers. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Yeah J, from the Tokyo shows I've been to, I'd have to agree (although I've never made the December Moon Eyes show). These shows are mostly American iron. In July there is an "American only" show an hour or so away we're thinking of going to. We'll probably camp out. See you next week! Many were imported, but you'd be surprised at the shops here. One near me, Paradise Road has done some really well known cars, including that one on the poster. They had at least 10 cars they built at the show that I know of. All well done, tasteful traditional styled cars. Most engines are Chevies, for obvious reasons, but I saw a few flatties, and that Galaxian has a 'W' motor. You may know that Moon Eyes is Japanese owned, so the culture here is strong. Not cheap, but these guys really live it.
no HOT ROD Datsuns? they made some seat looking little cars in the old days. I used to have a 1965 Datsun pickup with a bed like the 60's ford unibody trucks. 60 HP 1300 CC and 4 speed column shift nice slide show. thanks for posting
Yes they do! Many of the fenderless rods are bagged, but nicely done. In general, roads are really smooth in Japan (better than Seattle anway), so they tend to drive 'em lower too.
Thanks Cretin. Being so far away from home and my projects I don't feel like I can contribute much to the HAMB. So this is my small contribution, it's nice to hear others appreciate it.
Comet and fatdaddy - If you would, please set me straight on something. I've heard many times in Japan it's illegal to modify a car in any way, and even more so to import modified older cars from other countries. How are the Japanese rodders getting away with it? Do they just let the shit fly and worry about the fix-it tickets later?
What you heard about Japan is wrong. There are more modified cars here than at home. Even mini vans are lowered, dressed in low profile tires and wheels, etc. It's a huge market here. Japanese take very good care of their cars and show a lot of pride and the aftermarket is a huge industry. In fact the enviro. laws are so strict and costly people engine swap all the time to meet requirements rather than fix it. That's why they export so many Japanese engines to the US that have low miles on them. They do have very strict laws about getting a car certifed for licensing. But it doesn't seem to restrict them from modifying. Also, if you get a restricted license (red stripe) you are only allowed to drive in certain areas, but the cops seem pretty cool about it if you tell them you are going to a show, etc.
I could tell that the Japanese scene was huge, I see pics of shows there all the time - lowriders / bombs, VW's, rods, kemps, trucks. Seems like there's more American iron over there now than there is here. Just wondering how they got by what has been called, in US magazines, "draconian" emissions and safety regulations that made it difficult or impossible to drive the cars once they make their way over to the Japanese mainland. Maybe I was hoping they were all illegal and being driven anyway, dunno.
I've been to Nagoya a couple times. Never seen anything this cool. A few choppers, and what I swear was a '59 Caddie in flat black, but I only caught a glimpse. This is great stuff.
All of it. From California by the looks of it. Based on everything I ever heard of their politics regarding import vehicles, private auto ownership and registration policies favoring the one buying the latest, "greatest", domestic-made "thingee" at the expense of the used-car owners, I´d imagine anything old, most of all automotive, at least to the effect that is seen in the pics, would be next to impossible to find having been sold new there "back in the day".
Wow! Better than most of my local shows. Did my eyes play tricks on me or did I see a 59 El Co with a 61 Cad front end? Theres some bad stuff across the water! Thanks for the pics.
WTF are you talking about?? When were you last in Japan?? If you don't know.....don't talk shit! There are a few VERY talented, committed guys in Japan cranking out some cool shit with their own particular slant to it.......I kinda guess that's how it is in Europe too, right???? In Japan, there are probably 2000 hotrods and 30 MILLION Toyotas. There are NO hot rod specific laws or exemptions.......coz there are just too few for anyone to give a shit about. Every rodder I asked simply said.. "We get Leniency". This made more sense to me when I got pulled up for 130 in a 60 zone in the mother-in-law's Corolla late one night. The Officer took one look at this Foreigner and just said " Muka.......Gaijin desu......Musakashi Sugiru" "Fuck......a foreigner......just too fucken difficult" No Ticket!!! Well a hot rod would just need too much paper.......
Awesome coverage Comet! I'll be going out to Nagoya in November to visit friends and hit the Truck Masters show Nov 15th in Odabia.
Doesn't surprise me a bit to see all of these cars. Lived in Misawa for almost three years. Japanese car culture is o f f t h e h o o k. Every kind you can imagine and some you can't. They really care about craftsmanship.
looks like it was a great show, how hard is it to get parts for old iron like that there? I know it can be pain here sometimes and the cars are from here.
Wow...I'm blown away! My old 56 Pontiac went to Japan after getting painted Porsche red with a cookie-cutter gray tweed interior. Whenever I see these Japan posts I always look for it but never see it. Comet, have you seen this car in Red? Had a front bumper installed before being shipped.
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