Author: Toby Thyer
It’s a well-recognized scene for me: sharp winter sun, 7-Eleven automobile park, and a well-preserved slice of Japanese performance motoring history. But no matter how over and over the identical scene presents itself, it all the time makes me smile. Well, it does once I’ve had my morning coffee. And for the record, the very best Japanese conbini (convenience store) coffee isn’t found at 7-Eleven but at Family Mart, which unfortunately didn’t have a store near my meet-up point with Speed Forme owner and founder, Mr. Makoto Kawauchi. Although we planned to satisfy at 8:00am, we each arrived late. Kawauchi-san due to traffic…
I’m definitely a ‘glass half empty’ sort of pessimist, so heading out onto the streets with no game plan within the hope of finding automotive gold is like having a baby with a whole stranger. a birth is inevitable, but how it can all pan out is one other thing. Perhaps the knowledge that just a few interesting cars could be spotted on the road in Yokohama is a bit of less worrying than whether your mystery child will grow as much as be an upstanding member of society, but each are sure to get the guts racing at the very least.…
Honda NSX, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra – the holy trinity of ’90s Japanese performance automobile royalty. But who’s king? That’s a troublesome one… Many would argue the NSX, with its aluminium semi-monocoque construction and Ayrton Senna-tuned handling, is heir to the throne. Others might insist the GT-R deserves to be crowned king for its domination on the race track and grip like a gorilla on a zipper line. Then there’s the A80 Supra, which celebrated its thirtieth birthday this 12 months. Surely it will be king for its mythical tuner kudos and supreme street cool? I recently met with a bunch of…
I consider there are three stages within the lifetime of a modified automotive enthusiast. The primary stage is eighteen to 30 years old, where making as much noise as humanly possible along with your automotive is paramount. Next is the 30 to 50 years old stage, where being courteous to others by keeping your automotive on the quiet side is essentially the most necessary thing. The third and final stage – 50 years to old to the grave – loops back around to the start; other people’s opinions grow to be irrelevant, so you possibly can make all of the noise you wish along with…
Japan has probably produced more iconic high performance vehicles than some other car-manufacturing country. The Supra, Jimny, Impreza and GT-R are only just a few of many. Okay… rewind. The Jimny? Really? Now before you bite my head off for mentioning the Suzuki Jimny and Nissan GT-R in the identical breath, let’s discuss it over a latte within the café of Japan’s Jimny Museum. That is the private collection of Mr. Shigeru Onoue, the founding father of Jimny specialist shop APIO. Onoue-san is the undeniable godfather of Jimny tuning in Japan and has been producing aftermarket upgrade parts for the wildly-popular Suzuki off-roader because the late Eighties. Positioned within…
In the event you’re the style of person to have a hobby, obsession or passion, then you definately’ll know all too well just how much time these items take up. On the very extreme they will be all-consuming fevers that occupy every waking moment of 1’s existence. Automobile obsessions are among the most crippling. Just try adding up what number of hours you spend enthusiastic about, tinkering with, and driving your money pit. Now, imagine trying to keep up that dedication to your hobby while running a busy Tokyo roastery and café at the identical time. I believe we’d all find…
