Greetings everyone from good old California! I’ve just returned home after my month-long plus Speedhunting expedition to Japan and I think it will be some time before I fully recover. During my time in Japan I was able to shoot some incredible cars, shops, museums, and more – all of which you can expect to [...]
As I was making my way around Osaka Auto Messe last weekend, taking in the crazy VIP cars and other custom machines that filled the halls, I spotted an in interesting shape out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t exactly sure what I saw at first, but as I got closer I realized [...]
As I did last month with the JCCA New Year Meeting, I figured that the best method for covering the parking lot at Osaka Auto Messe would be a “photo attack” showing as many cool machines as I possibly can. I think that by looking through this massive selection of photos, you’ll get a reasonable [...]
Now that I’ve shared some of my initial thoughts and observations from this year’s Osaka Auto Messe, I thought I’d go ahead and jump right in with a Spotlight-O-Rama with some of my favorite cars from the show. I’ll begin with the tough looking Toyota 86 you see above. Built by Todoroki Auto, this hachi-roku [...]
Tokyo Auto Salon might be the place where the world comes to see the latest and greatest in Japan’s tuning and custom car scenes, but one month later there’s another event that I find just as, if not more fun than TAS. That would be Osaka Auto Messe. I first had the chance to attend [...]
January is already receding into the distance, and global car culture is shaking itself down and preparing for the year ahead. But is there ever a quiet time in the automotive world? I’m sure there isn’t; there’s always someone, somewhere, planning and plotting their next move. Australasian car events are basking in the sun; Japan [...]
Earlier I spotlighted a clean VW Golf cruiser from Osaka Auto Messe, and now I want to step in another direction with a mental street-tuned JZA80. This sexy black Supra was built by Ripe Racing and to me is a quintessential example of the Japanese tuner car. Let's take a quick look. Before you even [...]
As I browsed the Euro section of the this year's Osaka Auto Messe, I encountered all sorts of Japanese-tuned Euro vehicles. The hall was packed with newer VWs, MINIs, BMWs, Audis, and other high end vehicles. When I spotted the Euromagic/Voomeran Mk.2 Golf or "Golf II" as it's known in Japan, it immediately caught my [...]
For my final piece of event coverage from the floor of Osaka Auto Messe, I want to share one of the largest and most interesting sections of the show. I'm of course talking about vans, compacts, and kei cars. In many ways the van and kei builders follow right along with their VIP sedan relatives. [...]
As I continue to go through the wealth of photos I shot last weekend in Osaka, I wanted to go ahead and post one more batch of shots from the streets and parking lots around Auto Messe. With this panda-colored AE86 Levin leading off, let's begin. Here we have a very functional looking DC2 Integra [...]
While it might look like a collection of diecast cars, this is actually one of Osaka Auto Messe's parking lots – as seen from the observatory of the Cosmo Tower, about 256 meters in the sky. How many different cars can you identify from this height? Back in a bit with more from the Auto [...]
More...
Now that we've seen some of the tuner cars and VIP machines from Osaka Auto Messe, I thought I'd take a few moments to showcase some of the European cars that were shown this year. Japan's Euro scene is one that continues grow, and whether you're talking about big body luxury sedans or the smaller [...]
As good as it is, Osaka Auto Messe might not be able to match Tokyo Auto Salon when it comes to things like overall size and media coverage. Although improving, a soft economy still keeps a lot of companies and OEMs from exhibiting at both TAS and Auto Messe. With that said, there are some [...]
On Saturday afternoon I found myself wandering around a parking lot in Japan for the second time in as many weeks. Based on the number of people that were pouring through Intex Osaka to visit Auto Messe, I figured the parking lots would be full of cool and interesting vehicles to see. It was an [...]
I'm still recovering from my crazy weekend in Osaka, but I wanted to go ahead and continue with my coverage from inside Auto Messe. For this post I thought I'd focus on some of the traditional tuner cars, along with a few other random scenes from the show. Why not start with one of Auto [...]
