Passion. This is what it’s all about. No matter how hot, wet or sticky the 7th of July gets in Yokohama, you know that RX-7 owners will converge on Daikoku PA.
This year’s celebration of all things Mazda rotary did not disappoint, because much like every other year I’ve been coming to this self-evolving meet, the atmosphere was that little bit different. It’s hard to put a finger on what that was this year; perhaps the cars themselves, which always seems to be improving; or maybe it was just the beautiful setting sun light that projected over everyone’s favourite Parking Area on the Wangan.
The recipe for this gathering has remained much the same for at least the last decade; you start at Daikoku PA as early as you can, and then once the police arrive and spoil things for everyone, you move to Umihotaru PA on the Aqua-Line.
So knowing that the police will intervene, but not knowing what time that will exactly happen, I always try to make it down to Yokohama as early as I can.
Maybe it was the way the light was hitting it, or the fact that it looked like it had just rolled out of a Mazda dealership in 1996, but this A-Spec FD3S RX-7 was so gloriously good that I had to return to it a couple of times. And to think that I wasn’t really sold on that front bumper when this limited edition model was first unveiled.
I probably sound like a broken record as I say this every single year, but it’s really cool to see how much the overall quality of the cars that attend this meet keep improving. With people reluctant to sell on their beloved rotaries, they continue to refine, restore and really look after them, and it’s something you notice every time. This year, many of the cars wouldn’t have looked out of place at a car show, with a few known examples even having even received fresh paint jobs ahead of 7/7.
This Sexy Knights FC3S RX-7 serves as a perfect example. It may be almost 30 years old, but its sporting all the right JDM aero requirements to help keep it current. Yes, I do mean the overfenders!
The car had an aggressively ported engine, which later on in the night when the owner fired it up, sounded and smelled more like a two-stroke than a rotary. The FC wasn’t even road registered, so the Sexy Knights crew had brought it out to Daikoku PA on the back of a transporter.
The Never-ending SelectionThere’s so much you can do with the exterior of an FD3S that its looks are only limited by the imagination of an owner. Some ideas can be pretty wild and will transform the car completely.
And on the subject of FD exterior treatments, has there ever been another car that’s had so many different widening kits designed for it? I can’t think of one…
But personally, I prefer the track look, and if I owned one of these cars, I’d likely want to invest most of my money into the forced-fed blender under the bonnet.
Kei Miura may not have been at Daikoku in person, but he was certainly there in spirit. This is actually the first time I’ve come across one of his FD3S kits out in the wild, and I have to say that the resulting conversion has a ton of presence.
And the 18-inch SSR Formula Mesh wheels it was riding on completed the look damn well.
The only thing I wish the 7’s Day did better is involve more vintage rides like this RX-3. I for one would have love to seen more older rotaries there, but the reality is this gathering is more for the younger generation, which is a bit of a pity.
Not to worry though, as there was so many more amazing cars scattered around the PA.
Yes, your eyes aren’t deceiving you – this is indeed a Fortune RX-7. It’s a kit that Yokomaku-san at VeilSide continues to produce, this being one of his latest conversions. With all the Time Machine posts I’ve dedicated to VeilSide over the last month, I found quite interesting that I would stumble across one of these rarities out in the wild. Oh, and there were a few more there too!
The 7’s Day meet is such an important one for RX-7 owners that many people take the afternoon off work, and in some instances make long drives in from the surrounding prefectures just to ensure they get there in time and secure a nice spot.
Passion UnitesIt’s always a great opportunity to catch up people you know, and at the same time make new acquaintances. Thanks to my recognisable white glasses, many people came over to say hello, and it was great to meet Speedhunters readers from the US, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ireland and Portugal.
It’s pretty incredible if you think about it: this is a simple gathering at a truck stop, yet it brings so many people together.
It wasn’t long before the sun set and the day turned into night, and the whole feel of the meet changed. Cars kept arriving and available parking spots were running low, forcing some to spill over into the truck and bus areas.
The itasha crews were out in full force too; it doesn’t really matter what car meet it is in Japan, you know there will be at least one person that’s plastered their car with female anime characters, or in this case what appeared to be a race queen.
My complaining of the lack of vintage stuff was probably overheard by someone, and before I knew it a few more SA22Cs had arrived to take part in the festivities.
We even had a surprise visit by a Scoot-built, naturally aspirated 4-rotor FD3S, but that car ended up leaving pretty much as soon as it arrived; the owner wanted to secure a decent spot at the next meeting venue, Umihotaru PA.
It was a good call too, because it didn’t take long for these guys to show up. One of the police officers even jumped out of the car to walk around the meeting and tell people face-to-face to leave; he even got all angry at a girl for sitting on a camping chair next to her car, which most people found hilarious. Japan at its best – fighting crime one rotary owner at a time!
Not wanting to hear anymore annoying police announcements over their megaphone, I jumped into my car and headed for the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line.
To see how the next part of the night played out, be sure to check out the second post I have coming on 7’s Day 2016…
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com
What car do you have again? Isn't the blue R34...?
"at least one person that’s plastered their car with female anime characters, or in this case what appeared to be a race queen."
That's not a race queen, that's the popular voice actress Nana Mizuki!
Thank you sooooo much Dino for another year of great pictures and coverage of 7/7!
Okay, so I may have commented earlier on a VeilSide article that their cars look terrible. I gotta break from that and say this white FD looks absolutely amazing.I wasn't a huge fan of the Tokyo Drift car, it was alright, but this... kills it.
Is it just me or do the people at Japanese meets tend to be less "rotund" compared to stateside?
I will have a rotory on day...
....one day
I think I just spilled premixed fuel all over my pants.
Awww jeaa !!! Been waiting all year for this coverage.
That's cool to see teams like sexy nights still exist. I had to do a double take on the rootbeer colored FD with the black enkei's. For a second I thought it was the 'Car Shop Glow' FD
I see an FD and then grow so attached to them... But then I see an FC and lose all interest in the FD and am stuck on the FD generation
*quickly starts checking out the local classifieds for rotary cars*
Swift and nice coverage!:)
Shout out for Malaysia! RX-7 on the fourth pic looks really rad with the fixed headlight and Porsche inspired hood. That salmon paint is a cherry on top for sure.
CyborgGT Its ok. We know you were just trying to sound cool.
Benigmatica Show's how much I know on that side of things...lol
@rt4dbnn Black 435i that night
@Kiske888 Glad to be of service
CyborgGT I guess white is less in your face?
AceAndrew2 Does that matter?
FrankensteinConnelly I'm thinking the same every time I go to this meet lol
luissk82247 Much spills
c22tch
LukeEVOVIII FC rocks. Period. Problem is, the FD rocks too. Ahhhhh
difflocked_mees I was on Car Sensor most of this morning looking at all sorts of rotary powered goodness!
JoeOlSoulR Cosmo FTW!
キャンプチェアから出て行け!
difflocked_mees Where you at? Buy my FC lol
So much hotness. The FD is probably the most versatile bodystyle to come out of Japan, like the Japanese Fiero.
AceAndrew2 show respect my son rotund
c22tch I'm with you on that one. I hope to make it person someday.
AceAndrew2 I think folks at any kind of meet related to anything in any country other than the USA would probably be "less rotund" hahahaha
Thanks again Dino, I look forward to this post every year.
But every year I say it and the same mistake gets made. There are two first gen rx-7's ones a sa22, and ones a fb, and there are very obvious visual differences between the two. Sorry, I'm just one nerd with a hang up about people confusing the two.
Simply P difflocked_mees in spain but it doesn't matter im too broke now anyway :l just daydreaming about one
Is this the cleanest meet in the history of meets? All the cars look so perfect and shiny - like, way more than all those static VW wankers ever manage. It's lovely. Even the cops' Crown is nice and shiny.
Dino, the love you feel for the R34 is what I feel for the FD3S. My heart literally aches to purchase one. It's a goal for the next five years to finally get a decent chassis into my garage to finally start a long term project.
Benigmatica and singer btw
Slappy_Pistons compare to a crown vic......the crown is also a cool cop car and I realized it was the crown victoria of the east
btw not just japan.....my home country is also celebrating 7's day http://www.autoindustriya.com/features/pistons-not-included-celebrating-7-s-day-in-manila.html
EythanAldrich its cool to see the Philippines evolving car culture. When I was there back in 04 either all the cool cars were hidden or they were not around. The amazing number of potholes, speed bumps, and that damn traffic made me believe that finding car enthusiasts were impossible. I did fine a 22b and a evo V. On the way through the province we were passed by a Porsche. I know that now they have a RWB presence and a handful of other sports cars roaming the streets. Anyways, back on topic, I'm glad to see really glad to see really tuned cars like the 7's you posted!
If you had the same meet in Australia the police would do something a little worse than just tell you to leave haha
Slappy_Pistons AceAndrew2
Ha! Very true!
Dino, regardless if it matters or not, America's obesity issue will soon be solved by Pokemon Go.
Dammit, again I missed out on an awesome event that I forgot existed! I live seriously less than 30 minutes away from this. Next year I'll be there for sure. Are there any other "annual" events that happen in the Tokyo/Yokohama area?
Benigmatica someone beat me to it, hahahaha!!!
Please never stop covering these events from Japan! Oh, how I wish I was born there..
@Nic Like what?
Slappy_Pistons Welcome to Japan
@Nic It depends on the police officer and crowd at the time. Ive had both good and bad experiences.
Muzaffar Musa Man this is awesome both of my Facebook friends also commented in this page,I will following SpeedHunters more often then before!
hcram39 haha don't worry, I got you guys!
DJVelocity You sure did! Other annual meets? I guess the next one will be 8-6
Steve Hayward Good luck in finding one, once you set your mind to it you can achieve anything
Slappy_Pistons Yeah as I said in the story, these cars just get better and better with every year
RenoRotary FB was for the US as far as I know
AceAndrew2 Slappy_Pistons I hate humanity sometimes
d_rav EythanAldrich well thanks a lot
Can easily throw some HID projectors in some of those headlights...
EythanAldrich d_rav Thanks for posting this here man!
This place looks unreal, Something out of a movie or a manga of some sort. And you managed to capture the real atmosphere both in the day light and at night. Amazing work sir!
Was that you speedhunters_dino at 5:53? https://youtu.be/DyGIP_3OOKw?t=5m53s
NAftw speedhunters_dino Yup that was me!
importfan Thanks:)
AurickGo EythanAldrich d_rav Love those MS-02 wheels, wish I could find a set for my FD!
niZmO_Man Well... Not exactly. Given that the stock lenses of the pop ups on the FDs aren't clear, you'll need to change to a clear lens to make more effective use of HID projectors. Normally a square 6x9 clear lens would be easy to source, but the FD's lens has some odd curvature that requires and entirely new shape. Unless you're going for a fixed lamp setup, you'll have to source that odd-shaped lens from somewhere. I had to trace a part number of one manufacturer and eventually picked off a clear lens with housing on Amazon. Took about a couple months to make and ship out too, so it's a bit cumbersome haha. Surely worth the trouble though.
@JC AurickGo EythanAldrich d_rav Thanks! A friend in Japan picked them off for me on Yahoo Auction. Apart from a minor curb rash on one of the rears the set is in perfect condition. Complete with all four centercaps too!
Going through the tunnel in the last image must have been quite the symphony!
Inspired by all years Dino covered 7's day in Japan, we decided to have our own 7's Day celebration here in NYC:
https://www.facebook.com/primenyc.co/videos/526124124256234/
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Dino! Any insight on how to leave Daikoku PA without renting a car?? Or is it a prerequisite?