Kuala Lumpur brought the warmth and humidity, but could SpeedFest 2024 bring enough modified Japanese cars to fill a decommissioned military airbase?
KL Base, right in the guts of Malaysia’s capital city, provided the right backdrop for this ambitious event. Locals mentioned that the empty airbase is slated for redevelopment soon, making this festival potentially a one-time experience within the unique location.
On arrival, I felt like we were driving onto a movie set. The situation was as iconic as The Fast and the Furious ‘Race Wars’ scene, with limitless rows of car-filled pavilions and a whole lot of banners flapping, all set against one in every of the world’s most impressive city skylines.
The venue provided a gritty, almost post-apocalyptic vibe that completely suited SpeedFest’s massive ambitions.
Malaysia’s automotive industry and enthusiast base showed up in force, bringing all the things from meticulously restored classics to the most recent supercars and even some crazy surprising builds that I couldn’t have even anticipated . The juxtaposition of cutting-edge technology against the backdrop of weathered military structures added a component of surrealism to the event.
The warmth and humidity were relentless, but they couldn’t dampen the spirits of the enthusiastic crowd. It was a testament to the eagerness that drives Malaysian automotive culture.
The sprawling airbase offered a singular setting that few other locations could match. The long, open runways provided the right canvas for drag races and drifting, while the expansive hangars housed among the country’s best automotive builds.
Together As One
Guests from Japan added a singular flavour to the event. Rubbing shoulders, sharing automotive stories, and even just posing for a selfie with among the original legends who grew Japan’s modified automotive scene is a possibility that’s super rare outside of Tokyo Auto Salon or a shortlist of Japanese events.
Notable guests included Daijiro Inada, founding father of Option magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon. Inada-san will not be only a Japanese automotive culture pioneer but additionally someone who has shaped automotive culture globally.
Shoji Inoue from Star Road is the wizard behind a few of Japan’s most jaw-dropping classical restomods, especially his work on the enduring Datsun Z series. A mid-restoration Devil Blue 240Z was on display within the predominant hangar.
Sakamura-san from Garage Lively ran out of ink after signing so many diecast models of his all-carbon R32 Skyline GT-Rs across the weekend. His quest to push the limited and redefine the ‘perfect’ GT-R really struck a chord with local enthusiasts.
These legends brought a singular vibe to SpeedFest, giving everyone the rare probability to hang around with among the OG JDM scene influencers.
Over 1,000 cars officially entered the event across the show, drift, and drag stages. That’s excluding the countless modified vehicles that made their way into the spectator automotive parks, too.
Impressively, over 50,000 guests passed through the gates. I spoke with enthusiasts from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Brunei, Thailand, and even the UK.
Hanging Out
It was sensory overload inside the large hangar, but listed here are a couple of show-stoppers.
Eight RWB cars made a big impact. I can’t remember seeing so many together outside of Nakai-san’s RWB Latest Yr Hard Rock Tokyo Party in 2018, eclipsing even the RWB film debut in Melbourne in 2016.
This ultra-wide 997 is the youngest member of Malaysia’s RWB family. Accomplished just a couple of weeks ago, it was the last of six cars accomplished by Nakai-san during a mega build-a-thon.
Teoh from RWB Malaysia, one in every of the owners of Miyabi, Malaysia’s first RWB, was readily available to provide me a fast take a look at the remaining of the RAUH-Welt Begriff display.
Elsewhere, the hangar was affected by restored modern classics, European supercars, competition cars, and more. Just about all niches were represented.
CraftLab presented three rally legends – a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III, a GC8 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, and an ST185 Toyota Celica GT-4. Despite all being works automotive replicas, they were an ideal addition to the show.
The Unexpected
This brick hot rod was one in every of the eccentricities I didn’t expect to see, but I used to be delighted to examine it out in and out.
The local ‘Bricks’ team brought two cars made almost entirely out of Lego-style bricks, and complete with working doors, speakers, instruments, and even LED lighting. The yellow automotive is a 1:1 replica of an inexpensive buy popular local automotive, A Perodua Myvi.
Bonus points for the lovable Panda passengers. I’d like to see one in every of these hit a wall at speed while being filmed in super-slow motion.
The standout cars included some unapologetically personalised rides, like this Honda Prelude with a full custom carbon fibre bodykit designed and made by its owner, Kevin Lim. Carbon replaces much of the cabin and floorpan, too.
There are some obvious styling cues taken from well-known body kit makers and maybe even GT500 or time attack builds.
A Garrett turbo helps the worked H22A engine produce 300hp when VTEC kicks in, yo!
One other engine that caught people’s attention was this Mazda 13B rotary. The remainder of the automotive was causing a scene, too.
Although there isn’t a shortage of Nissan/Datsun Bluebird 910s back home in Australia, we don’t have any samurai-sword-wielding, R32-taillight-equipped, Japanese-police-liveried, and side-piped examples like Rotosun.
There wasn’t quite a lot of pure competition machinery within the hall, but it surely was represented. This carbon Ginetta G58 weighs just over 900kg and is powered by a 6.2-litre V8. It always had people absorbing its exquisite carbon fibre details.
Overall, the variability of cars, the standard of the restorations, and the creativity behind most of the builds were amazing.
The one thing higher than seeing a few of these cars parked up was seeing them in motion. And SpeedFest 2024 ticked that box, too. Stay tuned for part two of my coverage.
Matthew Everingham
Instagram: matthew_everingham
matt@mattheweveringham.com
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
