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. My chauffeur for the day was Aaron, and after parking up his VR-4 we set off on foot in the hunt for some gems.
It wasn’t long before an enormous sigh of relief was expelled from my rotund post-Christmas belly, as a Mitsuoka cruised past a Nissan 350Z and a slammed drift-spec Silvia. We had barely walked 100 metres from our automobile parking space and already had hit peak Japan street-spotting. Perhaps this was going to be easier than I believed…
Slightly further along from Zou-no-hana Terrace, walking towards central Yokohama, there’s an incredible corner for car-spotting when you’re ever in the world.
From this spot, drivers are likely travelling into Tokyo via Minato Mirai 21 and its surrounding affluent suburbs. While most individuals are behind the wheels of Nissan Notes and other vanilla-flavoured small cars, it’s sobering to see enthusiasts getting around in barely more exciting and interesting machinery, even in the event that they’re sometimes not the very best suited to tight Japanese city roads.
Heading in towards Chinatown, things start getting a bit fancier with daily-driven Ferraris and other high-end Euros. This area also has a few of the most interesting public toilet blocks around – if you’ll want to make a pitstop. Given its close proximity to Chinatown, this one features Chinese design details.
In fact, for us foreigners even the taxis in Japan are cool and I could have happily just snapped all of them day. There’s something a few Toyota Crown Comfort with its headrest doilies and privacy curtains that’s still cool even after years of living here.
After which, out of nowhere, the familiar growl of a classic carburetted Nissan six-cylinder cut through the burble of shoppers as they bustled along the non-pedestrianised roads. ‘That Hakosuka owner is game bringing his automobile down here’ I believed to myself as he turned the corner and disappeared through a crowd of individuals.
It’s funny how we quickly turn into tuned in to our surroundings. After I’m on the hunt for cars, I can spot them from across the road, through a crowd and – within the case of this Lancia Delta Integrale – tucked away in a parking lot entrance. It’s some sort of old banger sixth sense, I suppose.
Crossing a busy road, the unmistakable front end of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX caught my eye, and after I clicked it was an Evo Wagon, I knew our quick little walkaround had been successful. I’d love considered one of these wagons to shoot tracking shots from, but as of late I might likely must sell a kidney and reverse import one from abroad to find a way to afford it.
For those who’d wish to see more street Speedhunting in the longer term, let me know within the comments. I’ll attempt to have in mind that when you float, the automobile universe will all the time surprise you. But being in Japan definitely helps.
Toby Thyer
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tobythyer.co.uk
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