This year’s Donington Historic Festival in the UK had the usual strong line-up of car clubs taking up the infield of the track, but one gathering I was really looking forward to checking out was the area dedicated to the Classic Z Register and the Z Club Of Great Britain. Organiser Jonathan Kinghorn had been [...]
By definition, a Speedhunter should pursue his “hunt” in a variety of different ways, which means that when we cover events we don’t simply just concentrate on what is served up for us on the show floor, or in the paddock at race tracks. Our curiosity pushes us to wonder around, to head out of [...]
This year the organizers of Nagoya’s Exciting Car Showdown created a new prize category to include votes from the various members of the foreign media that covered the show. I thought it was a great idea, but at same time quite humbling to have the chance to give our feedback. What was even cooler was [...]
I’m so glad I decided to go to the Hobby Garage in Kuki the other day. Had I not, I don’t think I would have ever understood what “custom” really means to RC car enthusiasts in Japan. If you thought what you saw in yesterday’s post was impressive, well all I can say is scroll [...]
If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’d like to return to Tokyo Auto Salon for a moment with this story. While TAS 2013 was an amazing show, one of the things that impressed me the most at Makuhari Messe that weekend was not even a car. Ok, so it was a car , but [...]
Don’t you just love it when things just work out without much planning? That’s what happened to me the other weekend, when, after covering the Nostalgic 2 Days event at the Pacifico Exhibition Center in Yokohama, I heard the Chop Sticks Car Club would be meeting up for one of their awesome cruises. So, after [...]
I will pick up the Nostalgic 2 Days coverage with another Spotlight-o-rama and after the slightly too Nissan oriented previous one, I thought I should probably mix it up a little (mind you 65% of the cars at the show were Nissans!). I’m a sucker for older Toyota Crowns, no matter what body shape, but [...]
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 [...]
In my last article about Ole Orange Bang, I left off with my stock motor blown and a frown on my face. The poor little sportscar sat in my garage for over a year. When I went into my garage to do my laundry, I would just stare at it and sometimes shed a single [...]
Nothing is as it seems in Japan. As a rule of thumb you should never, in any circumstance make any sort of assumptions about any car you see on the street. This is especially true if that particular car proudly wears the Rocky Auto name, a shop we are all pretty familiar with these days. [...]
It’s often hard to comprehend just how vast and deep automotive culture and passion spans in Japan. Last year I had the chance to help put together a program that attempted to show just this, looking at some of the biggest names out there. It was a pity it was only shown in Japan, but we all knew it wouldn’t be long before it was released online. It’s over forty minutes long so sit back and enjoy the show.
-Dino Dalle Carbonare
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Seeing this past Sunday was the final Battle Evome of the year that I will be covering, this will pretty much wrap up the first-half of the JDM time attack season coverage, at least at this sort of level. However, there will always be plenty more grip event at tracks like Tsukuba, Honjo and Sodegaura [...]
Much like Mike Garrett, I too recently spent a day in Japan that I wished would never end. For many of us, there is a tiny circuit just north of Tokyo which is more famous than any large GP circuit on the planet. This track is of course the birth place of time attack as [...]
To me the absolute best thing about being a Speedhunter is not just being able to photograph and explore the world’s coolest cars, it’s being able to experience so many different types of car culture on a regular basis. It can be chatting with fun-loving drifters one moment, trying to fit in with the elite [...]
My favorite event ever. I suppose that’s a strong statement considering how many great automotive gatherings I’ve had the pleasure to visit, but if someone asks me what my single favorite event is I’d easily answer with “the JCCA New Year Meeting”. There are so many different words I could use to describe the New [...]
