July 20th, 2011

During my time in Shinsaibashi, Osaka we came across some amazing cars along the main road through the city. Here is a shot of a BMW M6 Coupe convertible with a lady crossing the road starring at it. It was lowered on some huge black wheels and had an unbelievably good note to it. This photo says quite a bit for me, as a matter in fact it reminds me of a car advert, a lady starring into the eyes of a new, aggressive BMW wondering what it’d be like to own one, except the quality would sure be a lot better on an ad that’s for sure.

July 18th, 2011

This photo may look a little familiar to you as you have most probably seen an image taken from the same night on the same road at a different angle. Here is a more detailed shot of Todd & Nathans s-chassis parked up on one of the main roads leading into Shinsaibashi, the heart of Osaka City. I have to say it was quite surreal witnessing 9 or so beaten drift cars parked up along a main road with the hazards flashing.

January 6th, 2011

Whilst visiting Wonder we couldn’t help but notice this glamorous JZX90 Mark II Chaser, which happened to be a clients car. The young fellow rocked up with his girlfriend and spoke to us for hours along with Manabu-san and a few other workers. This car looked and felt like it had just come off the floor, it event smelt new. There was simply not a thing out of place on this.

I am in love with the front LED headlights. I took this photo just as the car rolled out of the garage. It may be a little difficult to see the Midnight Rose emblem on the top of the windscreen. It was quite funny I spotted this, as the previous night street drifting in Yokohama Bay the majority of the cars had the exact same emblem, quite a coincidence!

An aftermarket shift knob, set of gauges, cup holders, DVD/GPS system, Car Modify-Wonder dished steering wheel with extended boss kit and a Bride seat. And, to top it all off, a girlfriend in the passengers seat. What more could you possibly want?

Manabu-san informed us that the car had been in for body work. The body-kit had been fitted and painted. The final result after a bath.

The car sounded unbelievably tough leaving Wonder.

January 6th, 2011

Crossing paths with the ever so famous Wonder was completely unexpected.  Our last day in Shinjuku motivated us even more to explore around the city area before we headed to Daikoku PA later that evening.

The previous night, well I should say morning was a late one. After Daikoku PA we managed to get invited to a drifting meet at the docks of Yokohama Bay. As a result of this we were back in Shinjuku asleep at about 4:00AM. We had all agreed to get some rest that morning as it was our last day in Tokyo before beginning the journey up north to Tsukuba and Nihonmatsu for the D1-SL series and Matsuri. Waking up just after lunch time we lazed around the hotel for a couple of hours gathering our belongings and packing the tiny hire-cars to the absolute brim, by this time our stomachs were calling!

Driving straight into the city on the search for a noodle bar Nigel managed to spot Manabu Mitsumori-sans JXZ100 parked out the front of Wonder. At the time Nigel mumbled a few words unbelievably fast and twitched… Somehow I understood what came out of his mouth so I immediately went crazy in the back seat and we pulled into the next street.

Jumping out of the car, grabbing my camera I sprinted a couple of hundred metres back up the main road and saw this… A kouki S14 slammed on Origin DNA-02 wheels and a pair of R33 GT-R’s on the rear. The parks out the front of the workshop were filled with customers cars…

…Another customers car being this white C33 Nissan Laurel. In all honesty I can’t explain how much I fell in love with this car in person, this styling just screams out 80’s/90’s, I’ve always LOVED 15’s on larger cars. The C33 is powered by a RB25DE which is described as a Kaido Racer by Manabu-san.

I love it how the rear of the bonnet has been raised. Check out the 15″ SSR mesh.

I didn’t manage to get a photo of the back of the Laurel, but I noticed I had a video of the car and grabbed this screen shot. Take note of the exhaust. I wish I got to hear this thing.

And finally the Team Spirant AE86 driven by Manabu Misumori-san.

I am really looking forward to Spring Matsuri this year. I’ve been speaking with Manabu-san and by the sounds of things he will be driving the hachi-roku at this years Spring Matsuri in April along with a small group of drivers!

Casey.

December 25th, 2010

December 22nd, 2010

On the first day, we made our way into the centre region of Tokyo City, planning to visit both garages and shops such as Super Autobacs. The previous night, being our first night in Japan we were unable to find any accommodation, therefore we slept in the car in between a number of rice fields. Definitely one to remember. Arriving in Tokyo earlier than expected, it turned out we had about 3 hours to kill before anything opened. Most shops open around 11:00am in the morning, rather than 7:30-8:00 here in Australia. We took the time to walk a few kilometres around the city. Crossing paths with thousands of businessmen and women this image captured the early morning rush perfectly in my eyes.