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Posted
Jan 05 2009, 11:11 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 10 comment(s)
When Mazda comes to mind, you probably think of flame-spitting RX7 or a nimble Roadster. The nameplate just isn't associated with ground scraping VIP sedans, or is it? This VIP Mazda Sentia (Mazda 929 in the states) I spotted on Minkara could certainly hang with any Nissan or Toyota sedan out there. This example looks to have radiused fenders to help achieve that perfect stance, in addition to all the other standard VIP bits. These cars can be picked up for pennies on the used car market, and a properly done example really stands out in a sea of Lexus and Infiniti. This car actually reminds me of the badass rotary-powered Sentia drift car I saw in a recent issue of Drift Tengoku Magazine. I'm gonna have to try to dig up some info on that thing......
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Posted
Nov 19 2008, 10:00 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
Nissan has just debuted its redesigned second generation Cube in Japan, and though that might not like sound like a big deal to people outside of Japan, the new Cube will also be sold in the US starting next year. It will join the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, and Scion xB as another entry in the fuel efficient compact wagon segment. The car retains all the funky features of the original Cube and should be similar in size to the original Scion xB....
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Posted
Nov 10 2008, 09:46 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
Tokyo Auto Salon 2008 was all about the GT-R, Evo, and Impreza, and though the Lexus IS-F was already on the market, it didn't have the big showing that those other cars did. It's looking like '09 show might be the time when we see what Japan's tuners are capable of with the IS-F. Wald International has recently shown their new IS-F aero package which is part of its Sports Line series. Like the Sports Line kit for the new GT-R, the IS-F version is quite aggressive in contrast to the rather subtle style of other Wald parts....
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Posted
Sep 12 2008, 01:38 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 12 comment(s)
The redesigned 2009 Honda Fit just went on sale in the United States, but the new Fit has already been out here in Japan for a close to a year now. I was browsing through the latest issue of Style Wagon Magazine when I saw the newly updated Fit demo car from Noblesse. It is running a full Noblesse Lux type aero kit with a set of custom set of FRP blister fenders that are used to house the aggressive 18" Garson wheels (fitted with 5-lug adapters). Other coolness comes from a full set of Project...
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Posted
Aug 29 2008, 06:14 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
Any fan of Japanese cars should be familiar with the Nissan Stagea. The first generation Stagea is known for being the closest you can get to having a Skyline GT-R station wagon and Autech even produced a limited edition RB26-powered Stagea known as the 260RS. In the early 2000's when the Skyline switched to the new drastically different V35 chassis, the Stagea evolved along with it to become the M35 chassis. It is essentially a wagon version of the V35 Skyline or Infiniti G35. It is pretty uncommon to see fixed up M35 Stageas, so when I came across this one while browsing Minkara, I knew that I had to post it up here....
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Posted
Aug 22 2008, 02:57 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
If you are even slightly interested in Japan's car culture, then there is no doubt that you are familiar with kei jidousha, the tiny little cars with yellow license plates that can be seen in every corner of the country from the alleys of Tokyo to the fields of Hokkaido. Now how do you determine just what a kei car is? To fall into the kei class, the cars must meet certain standards that limit the overall size of the vehicle, and their engines must displace less than 660cc. Besides their tiny size, which matches up well with the size of Japanese streets, kei car owners also get a number of benefits by way of discounts on car tax, insurance, and parking fees....
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Posted
Aug 18 2008, 03:15 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 18 comment(s)
Yesterday, as we walked into the pits at the Honjo MSC event, we were all a little awestruck by the amazing drift cars at hand. One of the the most interesting cars we spotted there, however, was not even a drift car. When we saw this strange looking pink machine rolling through the pits, we were all thinking "What the hell is that?". Now I try to stay well versed in the different JDM models,but I still could not identify what exactly we were looking at. Besides the unique body, it also grabbed our attention with its pink paint, widened fenders, and aggressive VIP-like stance......
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Posted
Aug 14 2008, 07:24 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
Now I have a feeling that most of us are a little too young to remember first hand the vanning craze that swept the United States back in the '70s, but I'm sure you have probably heard a little bit about it. Airbrushing, themed interiors, sidepipes, that sort of thing. Sounds glorious right? Well I guess you can say that in Japan vanning has never gone out of style. When I talk to my American friends about what cars are like here in Japan, I tell them that it seems like for every customized truck or SUV there is driving around in the US, there is a customized van driving around in Japan....
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Posted
Aug 11 2008, 03:15 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 30 comment(s)
Well, here we go. I have been thinking of what I was going to write in this post for a while now. As you have probably seen in the past, the definition of what "VIP style" is has been discussed and debated quite a bit over the past several years. In the end I decided that instead of trying to define exactly what VIP style is (which may be impossible), I will give my own perceptions on the VIP movement based on what I have experienced myself over the past few years. Of course let me say that I am not an expert on VIP stuff nor have I ever built a VIP car so I suppose this will become just another viewpoint in the "VIP debate". Hopefully it will at least have some good reasoning behind it......
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Posted
Aug 04 2008, 07:30 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 22 comment(s)
When it comes to Japanese four door performance cars, the rally-bred Impreza and Evo probably come to mind first. While those have huge following worldwide, when it comes to Japan's domestic tuning scene, Toyota's JZX chassis is right there with them in popularity. Despite the fact that the JZX has not been sold for four years, Tokyo Auto Salon 2008 was filled with more JZX's than I could count and their popularity shows no sign of stopping. We talk about the JZX's quite a bit here on Speedhunters so I figure it would be good to take a little look at just what makes these sedans so cool....
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Posted
Jul 18 2008, 08:40 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
Earlier in the month I showcased a couple of my favorite cars that can be seen competing in the D1GP series and while we love pro drift cars like those, we haven't forgotten about the grassroots and street drift cars which are such an integral part of the scene. I found this particular Saitama-based Toyota JZX100 on Minkara and knew it would a make a perfect addition to our month-long look at the drift world. The car is owned by Minkara member "さ~たん" and beautifully combines elements seen on both drift cars and on VIP sedans. The first thing that sets this car apart is the body style. While the JZX100 is very popular chassis for drifting, the Cresta model is by far the most uncommonly seen version as Crestas are heavily outnumbered by their Mark II and Chaser counterparts at the circuit and on the street......
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Posted
Jul 02 2008, 11:16 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 5 comment(s)
The Toyota Celsior (UCF30) is very popular amongst VIP tuners in Japan, one of those tuners is K-Break. They offer complete body kits for different models including this third generation Celsior. What I really like about this particular car are the old school BBS rims, no fancy chrome 22" rims but nice and classy multi spoke wheels. -Jeroen Willemsen K-Break
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 02:28 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 7 comment(s)
Recently, I haven't been able to watch TV for five minutes without seeing an ad for Honda's new "mini-minivan", the FREED To be honest, I have a hard time telling this car apart from any of the other small vans and wagons that fill the streets of Japan. But seeing as how the FREED is made by Honda, Mugen is now getting in on the act and has debuted its own version of the new car......
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Posted
Jun 16 2008, 12:04 PM
by
Mike Garrett
with 14 comment(s)
How about balancing all the racing and drift coverage we have been running lately with some low and slow sedans and wagons. These photos were taken by Minkara member "KiD" at this spring's Tokushima Auto Carnival on mainland Japan's smallest island of Shikoku......
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Posted
Jun 11 2008, 03:30 PM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 15 comment(s)
The Toyota Aristo or commonly known as the Lexus GS series is a very popular platform within the VIP scene. Companies like Junction Produce, Aimgain and Job Design still offer several body kits for this car. The car came with the indestructible 2JZ twin turbo engine (code JZS161) to give it the performance other cars didn't had......
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Posted
Jun 04 2008, 02:20 PM
by
Mike Hayes
with 10 comment(s)
The Driven to perform car show touched down in Vancouver last weekend, and brought with it a barrage of cars that remind me that car culture is alive and well. I was there to see the local scene as it came out of hibernation.
As for the "Who the hell are you?" bit, here goes: Based out of Vancouver, and being an artist on the Need For Speed games, I'm a bit of a car nut, and a "Honda guy". You know. One of those. Anyways, on with the show. ...
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Posted
Jun 04 2008, 10:50 AM
by
Jeroen Willemsen
with 25 comment(s)
The VIP or Bippu trend is not really catching on in Europe, but there are tuners that fill the void in tuning big sedans and luxuries cars. Most of those tuners come from Germany, like Brabus, AMG and AC Schnitzer. The most popular car is the Mercedes, just like the car we see here. This car combines VIP and Euro tuning styles, and does it in a very good way if you ask me. I really hope to see some really nicely build VIP cars in Europe, but I think it will take some years before we will see those...
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Posted
Jun 03 2008, 07:30 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 11 comment(s)
Is it just me, or is the van and wagon dress up movement in Japan getting bigger and bigger? These photos were taken by Minkara member "L175 MOVE" at the JapanCup wagon & van meeting held last month in Miyagi Prefecture. The event was hosted by T-Selection and J-Line, two companies that specialize in dress up parts and tuning for various van and wagon models. Around 260 cars were present at the show, and they ranged from tiny kei cars to full size vans like the Nissan Elgrand and Toyota...
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Posted
Jun 02 2008, 01:52 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 3 comment(s)
A pair of Toyota Estimas at the Dunlop Dress Up Meeting in Tokyo. I took this photo back in 2006.
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Posted
May 23 2008, 11:47 AM
by
Mike Garrett
with 8 comment(s)
While I love VIP style cars as much as the next guy, I think sometimes it can be a little boring seeing the same sort of builds over and over again. That is why I knew I had to share this JZS147 Toyota Aristo (first generation Lexus GS300 in the states) that I found on Japan's Minkara website. If you haven't heard of it, Minikara is like a Myspace for Japanese car owners. I can spend hours browsing the site and checking out people's cars. This particular car is owned by Minkara member...
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