Six months. That’s how long it had been since I had driven Leroy, my EK track project. In fact I hadn’t even seen the car without a cover on it since Super Lap Battle, so you guys haven’t really missed much. With my schedule taken up almost entirely by professional photography gigs and Speedhunting, there’s [...]
Ever since running across Nagano-san and his creations at past Nagoya Exciting Car Showdowns, I’ve been wanting to drop by his workshop in the outskirts of Kyoto for quite some time. It’s hard to put a finger on it all but Paint & Cutting Make Nagano Koubou has been extremely influential in creating the very [...]
Dazed, sleep-deprived and confused. That’s how you can sump up the demeanor of your average Speedhunter after a day covering one of the many events on our calendar. It all began abruptly at 4 am for me this morning; that irritating alarm buzzer once again interrupting my rest. There was no time for a couple [...]
Last week during the Speedhunters celebration of Americana, I featured a beautiful 1949 Mercury lead sled that cruises the streets of Japan. Kondo-san’s Merc is a completely authentic take on the classic American custom, and a perfect example of American car culture spread abroad. Today, I’d like to follow that up with a completely different, [...]
As a FWD Honda owner and enthusiast, I really hope you guys out there are enjoying our FF mini-theme like I have. For the rest of you, at least it’s almost over! In America I’d argue that the Honda Civic is probably one of, if not the, most-tuned Japanese vehicle around; and as such, often [...]
In Yesterday’s Kanjo post, I provided a little glimpse into a fascinating and notorious piece of Japanese car culture grown on the streets of Osaka. Today we’ll stay in Japan’s most colorful city for a visit to Tactical Art – a shop where a group of very passionate individuals have blended their Kansai roots with [...]
There’s an old adage that goes a little something like “(insert noun here), can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em” and for most petrol heads, this holds very true when it comes to our project cars. At times we’ll spend every last dollar we own, take our bodies and minds to the ragged edge, [...]
As a Speedhunter it’s quite literally our job to go around and stare at mind blowing cars day after day, a very tough job no doubt. I won’t bore you with tales of becoming increasingly unsatisfied with cars, but I will say that when I visited TYPE ONE last month I was expecting to see [...]
No matter what school of thought you may belong to, the kyusha scene in Japan has been steadily growing in popularity over the last few years. The vastness in which vintage cars are approached in Japan is as diverse and as varied as the culture itself, no matter how you tackle your own build, it will [...]
I think it goes without saying that it takes a special kind of person to decide to build a first-generation Acura Legend. Not surprisingly, Charles Trieu isn’t exactly your average person, but he is one of the more interesting individuals I’ve met in the scene and also a close friend. Coincidentally, he has some of [...]
Ireland is a strange country for automotive culture. It’s not exactly the most ideal country in the world to be a petrol head – high motor taxes, poor road network and extortionate insurance premiums all combined with a government determined to rid the roads of performance cars. Even to class yourself as an automotive enthusiast is frowned upon by the majority of society here. The general public want their appliances to transport them from A to B, more often than not neglecting everything along the way of their soulless commute.
But beneath the surface, a sub-culture exists. One that most here know nothing of. They hide in plain sight, often daily driving something that appears innocent enough to most, but attracts respect from those that can appreciate. They never go out to attract attention or to seek glory amongst their peers. They do what they do for one thing only – to put a smile on their own faces.
Inspiration; it’s a word we all use and understand, but I believe we seldom realize just how strongly it impacts our lives. No matter what it is we’re going through we draw inspiration from past experiences which inevitably define our future. In the world of cars inspiration is the common bond we as enthusiasts have [...]
Time has a funny way of taking its toll on things. Much like the changing of the tides, trends seem to come and go with time. What is now popular will likely become old hat in coming months, only to be resurrected some years from now. Of course there are exceptions to every rule and [...]
Nisei is a show where the standards are so high that virtually every car is worthy of a spotlight, but there were a few that peaked my interest a bit more than the rest. I’m not trying to suggest in any way that these were the only cars worthy of coverage, but this is a [...]
What is it about car shows that just doesn’t seem to excite me? It wasn’t always that way, I used to rather enjoy them. Perhaps I’m a little jaded because I’ve spent the last decade attending these types of events and the better half of it photographing and reporting them. Yet despite all of that, [...]
