Reign Of Peace: Offset Kings Japan
Game Changing

Change is never easy. Perhaps it’s easier for some more than others, but most of the time it’s inevitable, and it’s often for the best. Sure, it can be scary, but it’s necessary if we want to improve ourselves and become better human beings. Change is an important part of everyday life, and that includes global automotive culture too. Trends come and go, and people’s opinions and tastes change constantly. If things didn’t change and evolve, the car scene as we know it wouldn’t be the way it is today. In fact, it wouldn’t even exist at all.

The reason that I’m preaching to you about change is because I’m noticing a slight problem within our car scene right now. I’m talking about the negative attitude and ‘hate’ within the online automotive community, in particular towards Japanese and Japanese-influenced car styling and culture. After experiencing firsthand the kindness, enthusiasm and sincerity of the participants of the Offset Kings showcase at Fuji Speedway recently, I knew that I had to tackle this problem head-on and address it in this story.

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When I mentioned to a friend recently about my quest for world peace among the online automotive world, they laughed and retorted, ‘That’s just how the internet is, you can’t change it’. But I don’t think that’s how it should be. Surely we can at least try to make things better.

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If there’s one current trend within car culture that seems to spark the most outrage, it’s the so-called ‘stance’ movement. By that, I’m referring to car enthusiasts who take wheel offset and size, ride height and suspension, and any body modifications that affect either of those two factors into consideration when building, modifying or even just admiring a vehicle. The participants of this year’s Offset Kings Japan show had all of the above in common – plus much, much more.

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But before we take a closer look, I urge you to try and keep an open mind when viewing the images that follow. Remember, the owners of these cars are real people, and they’ve put a lot of thought into the way they’ve chosen to modify their own cars. They have different tastes, different lifestyles and different opinions, just like you. I’m not forcing you to like something that you’re not interested in, but I know that you clicked on this story for a reason – because you’re curious and because you love cars, like me. So what’s the worst that could happen?

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I’ll start off by sharing one of the first cars that stood out to me from the show. Because the more I kept looking at this Toyota Aristo on Hyper Forged HF27-S wheels, the more incredible details I kept noticing. If you look closely you can spot the dual Rotora brake calipers, and can you see how the bottom of the rear doors have been effortlessly moulded into the huge fenders? It’s all for show, right? Wrong. The bonnet was popped for a reason of course, to show off the beautifully presented piece of 2JZ-GTE weaponry you saw in the previous photo.

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This Nissan C35 Laurel left a lasting impression on me too. There was just something about the unusual bronze, kermit green and gold colour combo, along with my all-time personal favourite wheels – Work Meister CR-01s – in 16×10 inches all round. As I was taking this photo, the owner, Yamazaki-san, came over to say hello and show me around his car. The great thing about the Offset Kings event is that the owners hang around all day, so you can talk to them – or use hand gestures and Google Translate to communicate – about their rides!

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I really liked how Yamazaki-san had applied the same colour scheme to the interior of his car too. It’s funny, I don’t think I’ve ever peered inside a modified car in Japan and been met with a plain, stock interior. The inside of your car is where you spend the most time, so why wouldn’t you want personalise it with your own custom touches, right? It only makes sense when you think about it. I loved how the roof lining, A-pillars, and handbrake and shifter boots had all been decorated in a floral velvet fabric – what a bold choice! The traditional suichuka gearknob is a must-have as well.

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I’ll admit, it took me longer than it should have to recognise this as a fifth generation Honda Prelude, simply because I’ve never seen one with this kind of styling treatment before. How seriously cool does this thing look? I blame the tightly fitting SSR Vienna Kreis wheels, oversized boot spoiler and front lip, radical yellow headlights and the in-your-face external mounted oil cooler. I wonder if the vented bonnet hints at something aggressive hiding under the hood too? I’ll have to leave that one to my imagination…

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One of the rides rolling with the Ismart crew was this crazy hovercraft Z40 Soarer on enormous Work Meister M1R wheels. With its chassis literally sitting millimetres off the ground and its subtle overfenders, the proportions of this thing looked completely mad!

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The massive Work wheels measure 18×12 inches up front and 18×12.5 inches in the rear. I had to talk to the owner just to confirm that it definitely wasn’t on static suspension; unlike 90 per cent of the cars present at the show, it was actually on air. Phewww… I think my brain would’ve exploded otherwise.

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Nakagawa-san from team Bad Quality seems to constantly change up the look of his Rocket Bunny 180SX. Only months ago it was wearing a Sunoco-themed livery with yellow accents, but that has disappeared in favour of a clean look with his Work Meister M1s now painted completely black. Unsurprisingly, he ended up taking away the overall award for ‘Most Slammed’.

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The Offset Kings show isn’t just about mentalist fitment-orientated cars. This S15 time attack build was super-clean and had been built completely with function and style in mind. It featured a full Saito roll cage, Garage Mak body kit and aero, Enkei RPF1s and an SR20DET producing a healthy 480hp.

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It also had some great interior accessories. Thank-you for supporting Speedhunters Tsubaki-san!

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Next up, this Toyota Supra had some extreme fitment going on underneath its subtly plumped-up guards. Forget function, right?

Purpose & Poise
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Just kidding! Perhaps the ‘N-Style’ stickers gave it away, but this JZA80 Supra definitely isn’t just about looks. If you’ve been reading any of our recent features on N-Style Customs creations, you’ll know that these guys don’t drive any of their cars lightly – something which I saw for myself at the Idlers Games day at Tsukuba Circuit last month.

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This car is actually owned by Nagahama-san, the owner of N-Style Customs, who also drives this Z30 Soarer. The Supra’s 2JZ powerplant with its large Trust/GReddy T88 turbo makes a cool 800hp.

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I know that my Honda-loving New Zealand friends from the CJC car club will love this track-orientated EG Civic hatchback build.

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The whole car had been completely stripped out and transformed into to a dedicated track toy. The only strange thing was that it didn’t have a roll cage, but I’m guessing that’s next on the owner’s to-do list.

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Speaking of track toys, this British Racing Green MX-5 on deep RS Watanabe wheels was just one of many Eunos Roadsters in attendance – but by far the most functional and aggressive-looking though. It was cool to see the tiny convertible wearing some American Project-G G-Fuser side-skirts too. Whoever said that these cars should only be driven by hairdressers got that so, so wrong.

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We’ve shown you the new Rocket Bunny FD3S kit on Mad Mike Whiddett’s four-rotor-powered MADBUL and Kei Miura’s black and gold demo car, and now here’s another example – this time in fresh white. Although I’m a sucker for black cars, the lighter-coloured body definitely seems to shows off the lines of the kit beautifully. Without any graphics you can more carefully study Miura’s work, and what an incredible job he has done.

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Not far away from the white FD, I found its older brother, a white FC with a very interesting wheel choice. Strangely, they work really well!

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The Honda NSX to me is a car that’s already special enough in its stock form, let alone lowered on SSR Professor MS3 wheels. I envy the owner for getting to drive this car through the nearby mountain roads to get to the event.

Vintage & Euro Goodness
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If older cars are more your deal, the show had plenty of old school Japanese and European rides to pore over. When I first walked past this rusted-out Toyota Corolla wagon on old worn Hayashi Street wheels, I’ll admit, I didn’t take all that much notice of it. Sure, it looked cool, but I thought that was it – because the hood was closed.

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This reminded me of a valuable lesson – never judge a book by its cover. The gleaming white engine bay was such a surprising contrast from the rusty and dirty-looking body, and check out that gorgeous Beams 3S-GE with individual throttle bodies. I wasn’t expecting that!

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Did all that rust make you sad? If so, I have the perfect remedy: this beautiful banana yellow first generation Celica in all of its sunny ’70s glory. We recently featured another very cool looking RA21 from Hawaii, but this example had a few more shakotan touches, such as a front air dam, subtle rear boot spoiler and a lower ride height on on classic SSR MkIIIs. The pillarless window design on these cars is always so pleasing on the eyes.

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This B211 Nissan Sunny sedan was looking a little worse for wear – although the rear fender treatment suggested it was perhaps a work in progress build. Neverless, it looked undeniably cool slammed on period-correct wheels with an old fashioned roof rack.

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There’s only one Datsun 510 two-door sedan that I can think of in New Zealand, so getting to see this beautiful example was another real treat. I prefer the roofline of the 510 sedan, but I also love the body style of the coupe, so having them rolled into one like this is the ideal 510 in my eyes.

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I love how they’ve replaced the Work CR-01 centre caps with the traditional blue/white/red Datsun emblems.

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Speaking of Datsuns, I don’t think this B120 was even officially entered in the show, as it turned up later in the day, but I absolutely had to strike up a conversation with the owner when I saw it pull up. I love the subtle personalised styling choices the owner has chosen, plus check out those air horns. The retro stripes on the front air dam and the rear of the car are cool touches too.

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The personalisation continues throughout the cabin too, of course!

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Moving onto Euros now, the car that turned the most heads at the event had to be this ‘Thing’. Seriously though, these rear-engined Volkswagen cabriolets were actually badged as the VW Thing in the United States, but the car might be more commonly known outside of the US as the VW 181 or 182. This modified version looked insane as it drove around the parking area.

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An immaculate VW Beetle slammed on deep Work Equip 03 wheels? Hell yes! A touch of negative camber on the rear of an old-school Bug always looks so damn right.

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Even the most dedicated JDM enthusiasts surely can’t deny the boxy good looks of a low BMW 2002 on CCW SP20 wheels – a interesting choice to go with, as CCW is an American brand. It had its bonnet up too, which is always a good sign…

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It was nice to see that the engine bay and the old M10 motor had been given a bit of TLC.

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I was excited to see one of my all time favourite RWB Porsches, Rough Rhythm, arrive at the show, but when the doors opened, it was instead some familiar faces that got out of the bright green 993. Speedhunters driver Mad Mike Whiddett and his family had come up from the pits at the Formula D Japan comp to check out the Offset Kings in action.

A Peaceful Message
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Just as I was eyeing up this car for a photo, this little guy beat me to it. I swear, he’s going to put me out of a job some day!

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That cool little dude is actually Mad Mike’s son, Lincoln. After blowing a gear in his Japanese FD3S RX-7, JAPBUL, Mike and family went for a walk around the show and got talking to some of the locals about their cars. Here Takuto-san, the owner of an insane concrete-coated Toyota bB – yes you read that right – is showing them some of the finer details of his automotive sculpture.

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This might actually be one of the most crazy and bizarre cars I’ve ever come across – the whole body has been covered in concrete! It might sound impractical and a bit silly, but Takuto-san doesn’t care. Style is a hugely important part of Japanese car culture, and if you can’t inject your own personal style into your car, what’s the point? This car is an extension of the owner; an expression of his creativity, and yes, it makes a hugely bold statement. And that’s exactly what Takuto-san wants.  

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You might’ve noticed something odd about the wheels too. They are 8-stud Vision Raptor off-road wheels, which are actually specifically made for an H2 Hummer. Takuto-san proudly explained to us, “I wanted to do something with my car that no-one else has ever done. To me, being different is cool.”

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Eventually it became time to hand out some official awards, and the Fatlace team had plenty of cool goodies to give away.

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I was humbled to be given the opportunity to get up on the makeshift stage – which as you can see, was actually the Volkswagen Thing – to present the Speedhunters #FeatureThis award to our favourite car of the show. You can expect a full feature of the winning car here on Speedhunters soon!

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Here’s a sneak preview for now, but I can tell you that as well a gorgeous set of wheels, our winning car had a cool, relaxed, fun-loving vibe that really stood out to us.

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Now that I think about it, that totally describes the vibe of the crowd at Offset Kings too. They were just a friendly and happy bunch of people, pushing the boundaries with their cars, having a good time and enjoying themselves. There was no judgement and no negativity at all – just a whole lot of laughs, photo-taking opportunities and peace signs.

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I know I’m just one person out of seven billion, and maybe this is asking too much. But I think if we all work together, we can achieve a sense of courtesy and consideration for all automotive sub-genres without placing judgement and negative remarks. Old and new, low and slow, fast and ridiculously fast, Japanese, American, rotary-powered; why can’t we can love and appreciate our car scene as one whole?

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See, even these cute Japanese babies want peace! If we joined forces and worked together, just imagine what we could potentially achieve. It’s an exciting concept, don’t you think?

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To sum up our Offset Kings coverage, I’m just going to leave this here. A simple message of peace. We’re all people who love cars, so can’t we all just get along? I’ll leave you to ponder that thought.

Taryn Croucher
Instagram: taryncroucher
Twitter: @taryncroucher
taryn@speedhunters.com

Cutting Room Floor  

I could’ve easily kept going and created a 10-chapter story with the amount of images I took at the show, but I had to draw the line somewhere. So here are a few extra photos that I thought would be a shame to not share anyway. Enjoy!

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1

I'm throwing money at my screen with the picture of this green Miata, but nothing happens ... :c

2

Listen, 

Car modification is an EXTREMELY subjective thing. When an owner modifies a car, he is doing it to match his personal taste. He is the only person that has to like his car. I don't have to like it, you don't have to like it, only he has to like it. 

I love all cars. I don't love all modified cars. Why? Because a modified car is intended to appeal to only one person. I'm not going to go out of my way to dump on people, but I'm not going to pretend I love everything, either.

3

There is a hefty amount of wisdom accruing from this post. The words of the Norwegian banana hammer, ''I've never before cried in front of my MacBook'', thoroughly describe my feelings after reading this written marvel of yours.

It is a fact that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 94 times to 126 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2013. If being an automotive culture pacifist is not a virtue, I do not know what is. Thank you. #PADDYpleasecomeBACK

5
Austin Datsun McEwan

Leave it to Taryn to post about a stance show LOL.."iheartstance".. Not that i'm complaining

6

What impressed me the most about that white 510 was the fact that the owner had managed to line the wheels up perfectly so that the spokes matched front to rear.. I was impressed with that attention to detail.... or was it just luck? You decide! :)

7

@Jake Laird If you don't like something, if you have nothing nice to say, just don't say anything at all, that's the sum up, so, if you don't like, just don't hate, this write up is not meant to make you like every modded car you see, just for us to understand there's people with different tastes than ours.

8

@Jake Laird Agreed.  It also doesn't help when a good amount of stance kids where the hate runs deep (murica) run some sketch set ups.  You can see MotoIQ's article about an example here: http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/2612/Hella-Fail.aspx
With cars like these driving around the streets, potentially hurting themselves and others on the road, I'd say their 'hate' is justified.  
I think slammed cars is a cool look.  But I'll just keep my distance from seeing how some of the stance kids execute their setups...

9

Concrete-coated?!? that's the most unique car I've ever seen for sure. Although I'm not really interested in this kind of modification i must agree with you Taryn that's always good keep an open mind... you might even end up drooling over something gourgeous like that green Miata;)

10

Awesome coverage as usual! This is one event I'm dying to get to, am I right in saying the FRS/GT86 with headlight covers in the bonus images belongs to the same guy that owned the ww2 fighter inspired s14 on drag wheels?
Really loving that N style supra, would be cool to see some more of it!

11

Great article.  I remember about 13 years ago I wrote a
letter to the editor at Sport Compact Car about how I felt at the time in
Detroit I was seeing a lot of muscle car guys dissing Honda/Toyota guys and
vice versa for the style they were going for.  I went on to say that even
though I drove a 2001 Bullitt Mustang, Highland Green no less, that I
appreciated all styles of car culture as we all inevitably build off what
others do.  The response, which I was a bit miffed at, was that they would
not publish the letter because of all of the people who would disagree with
me.  This article along with all of the responses I believe shows how
car people are truly starting to evolve.  Nothing worse than getting your
creative juices pigeon holed into one ideal and having that same ideal stop you
from meeting some really great people in other scenes.If you see a car you think is cool give the person at the stop light
next to you a thumbs up – it will make their day and yours.

12

Great write up and photos, Taryn! 

I completely agree that things need some change in the scene. I see a huge divide out here in Southern California, not only in automotive culture, but the photography too. I actually did a little write-up on it, hopefully sharing my blog isn't against any rules! 

http://www.thedrivenlifestyle.net/automotive-photography-subjective-world/


Keep up the good work!

13
turbo BEAMS ae86

This is like 90s fast furios civics.  Same deal

14

If I'm not mistaken the almost overlooked Corolla Wagon was on Speedhunters before....

15

Why you didnt forograf this Supra from the back???????????(((((

16

is there any more info on the 6666 customs styled R34 (?) sedan in the bonus images, rare enough to see a skyline sedan let alone one that does not use the GTR look. 

thanks

17

@turbo BEAMS ae86 Fast n Furious came out in 2001

18
turbo BEAMS ae86

@Sam  meaned this style
http://www.ismellrice.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ricer_civic_2.jpg

not literally cars featured on the movie

19
JustinJadunath

Taryn, 
This a great write up and some rad photos too!! I am not a car owner (yet) but I am a CAR guy. Be it stanced, poke, tuck, time attack, drift, whatever. If it looks good, I dig it. If I don't like how it looks, then so be it. Maybe it's because I'm an older guy (42) or that I have an open mind, I don't know... All I know that people just love to hate that which doesn't fit THEIR opinion or box they live in. 
It's not hard people!!! Have an open mind, accept that which is different and new and who knows, you just might learn and love something new.

20

The article itself was well written, but you guys REALLY need to come up with a new opening paragraph for every stance article, ever. We got it the first 500 times, some people like stance and some people don't and why can't we all just get along? 

That Corolla wagon is awesome though.

21
TarmacTerrorist

It has always been a rule of mine to remember that it's easier to get people to complain then to speak up and praise. I'm certain though that the com
Your car is a statement of you,
Now; that mystery car... Is it a VW?

22

As an Evo 9 Wagon owner, I immediately noticed the Blue one in the second (wide angle) shot, centre screen.
Looks mint!

Great article, thanks!

23

Can't believe they did that to an Evo 7, but it's ok if it was a 7 GT-a.

In the same picture that smithadamb is talking about, if you look to where the E9 Wagon is, look left of it and one row back (the one facing away) you can see a red commodore ute, from the looks a VU, VY or VZ.

Seriously what is a holden commodore ute doing in japan?!

24
JoshuaWhitcombe

JohnathanWhye That is Kazuyuki Kubo's car, more photos can be found on the MATERiAL facebook page, I'm not sure about the actual info, but as far as I know he has adapted parts of an S13 kit to fit the ER34 :)

25
JoshuaWhitcombe

Shakotan_z33 Yes that is indeed the same guy :)

26

"The reason that I’m preaching to you about change is because I’m
noticing a slight problem within our car scene right now. I’m talking
about the negative attitude and ‘hate’ within the online automotive
community, in particular towards Japanese and Japanese-influenced car
styling and culture,
So hellaflush and stance is Japanese-influenced now? I thought it was just another ricer trend passing by. Mind blown.

"After experiencing firsthand the kindness, enthusiasm and sincerity of the participants of the http://fatlace.com/lacedup/2014/02/offset-kings-2014/ showcase at Fuji Speedway recently..."

That's Japan you're talking about, those people do it for the love of cars, not to impress people they hate...

"...crazy Z40 Soarer...and its subtle overfenders..."

I believe it has custom radiused fenders.



Can't wait for the feature though...and more "involved" articles like this, please.

27

Really cool that Toshi would let Mike take the car to the show. Really illustrates how friendly the RWB/TRA Kyoto/LBW/SH crew are with one another. Nice to see such camaraderie

28

apex_DNA You don't even know what subtle means. Come back later, grown-ups are talking.

29

This is my favourite side of automotive culture. Street meets with race in this weird fusion with some stance, quality parts that would be found on high hp builds, and executed with quality and personality. NOW, Taryn, from one New Zealander to another i absolutely NEEEEEED to see more pictures of that big S class W126 Mercedes that i can see lurking behind the 510! Chur!

30

Chris Nuggets He was just cruising round the car park but still… :)

31

tweetbix it had a koala plush toy on the bonnet too!

32

TarmacTerrorist The 'Thing' do you mean? It's radical huh! http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Typ_181

33

JohnathanWhye what he said ^ haha :)

34

tweetbix I read an article a while ago about Holden and HSV utes being imported and sold by a car yard in Japan somewhere but can't find the story.

35

earmenau apex_DNA Would you be so kind and explain to me?

36

apex_DNA earmenau What I meant by this statement was that the fenders are subtle in comparison to some of the other bigger / more extreme fenders out there. They might be smaller than some, but I'm not necessarily saying that no less work has gone into crafting them!

37

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that custom radiusing your fenders WAS the extreme end of it.

38

apex_DNA I'm referring to the size as extreme, not the level of craftsmanship. :)

39

More of that brown Mark II Coupe! :D
Haveto agree with you on the whole negativity thing, that's one thing where the Japanese car scene beats everywhere else, ppl there are so much more encouraging and rarely put each other down even when someone is doing something entirely different from the norm.

40

Subtle: adj, (especially of a change or distinction) so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe.
Thus, the use of the word 'subtle' does not imply that a ton of work, or the 'extreme end' of body work wasn't utilized to achieve the effect. The use of 'subtle' was correct in both ways. Not only are they small(ish) in comparison to some other custom fenders, but to the untrained eye, it wouldn't be terribly obvious that a lot of work was done. The opposite being, let's say, Rocket Bunny kits; which through the use of flares and rivets are blatantly aftermarket.

41

I'm really digging the British Racing Green NA Roadster and N-Style Supra. I love these type of builds. Also that concrete Bb is quite...something. not my taste, but I can respect the amount of work that went into it.

42

So how thick is the concrete coat on the xB?

43

The rocket bunny r34 is beautifully done :)

44
TarmacTerrorist

They are absolutely awesome! How the hell did I never hear of these before?
Hmmm might set up an auto-ebay search for one of those, they look like a laugh a minute!

45

Oh wow, that green Civic reminded me completely of the 'Custom Coupe Ultimate' out of Burnout 3 Takedown! Haha what a game!

46

bkishaan Lol I didn't know enough Japanese to know how to ask that one :)

47

Finally i found a steering wheel like mine!
Anybody can tell me something more about the Datsun B120 steering wheel?

48

tweetbix That there sir is my VY ser II Holden SS......the only modified one in Japan and is my Brain Child!!

49

Taryn Croucher tweetbix Thats munch.... he was gift from Brisbane..

50

5 pages...yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.

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