BH Auction could be described as a Japanese automotive candy shop; some of the world’s most iconic and collectible cars mixed in with legendary tuner and racing machines. Everything can be bought – if you have the hard cash to play the game, that is.
Over the last couple of years, BH Auction has worked hard to establish itself as Japan’s go-to specialist automotive auction portal. It’s given collectors all over the globe access to some seriously amazing cars, many of which had previously been tucked away in private collections for decades. At the same time, however, and differently from the more established auction companies around the world, BH welcomes demo cars from famous tuning shops, something they promoted beautifully with their recent Tokyo Auto Salon collaboration.
As the years pass and the generations shift, some of the people that grew up lusting over legendary tuned Japanese metal are now in a position to purchase them. Machines like Top Secret and HKS Skyline GT-Rs might be vehicles that the old boys in this auction game won’t even give a second glance at, but for anyone who spent the 1990s and early 2000s following the JDM aftermarket as it shifted from drag racing into drifting and then time attack, well, nothing could possibly be cooler.
This brings me to Top Fuel’s 1,000hp AP1 S2000 that Nob Taniguchi has spent more than a decade driving and helping to develop – this summer it’s going under the hammer at a BH Auction event being held in association with Super GT.
The Top Fuel S2000 is one of a small group of cars that I refer to as the ‘original time attackers’. It was a part of the golden years of Rev Speed’s Tsukuba Super Lap Battle event, alongside other cars like the M-Speed GT-R, the Garage Saurus S14, and Pan Speed and Revolution FD3S RX-7s.
The move from natural aspiration to turbo and a full wind-tunnel-developed aero package from Voltex allowed the Top Fuel S2000 to become the fastest of its breed, and it even made the trip down to WTAC in Australia in 2012 and 2013. While the Honda was never able to touch the faster cars at Tsukuba Circuit, it goes to auction bringing three separate track records with it: a 1.59.709 at Suzuka, a 1.27.887 at Okayama Circuit, and finally a 1.46.586 at Autopolis.
It will be cool to see where the S2000 Type-RR – as it was referred to in its final evolution – ends up, and more importantly, whether it will still be raced under new ownership.
Dino Dalle Carbonare
Instagram: speedhunters_dino
dino@speedhunters.com
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Brutal yet beautifully designed and lightning quick. Perfect combo for a track day S2000.
I would love to own a car like this
I just need a team
And lots of spares.
Hmm, somewhat sad to see these cars getting retired and sold. I don´t want to see them disappear in a garage, collecting dust. Anyway, what´s up with Pan Speed ? Haven´t heard of them in a long time. Would that be a feature idea, Dino ? Would be cool if you could visit some of tuners to see what their up to these days.
Pan Speed is very much still there, mostly dedicated to their loyal customer base rather than attempting to chase records. They are all still there, for the most part. The industry isn't what it used to be and with the shift to more aesthetic tuning those shops that didn't adapt are the ones struggling. Plus generally there aren't that many people interested in messing around with their cars as there were in the 80s/90s. Add to that the fact that import cars (especially euros) really took over a massive slice of that market, and it's easy to see that those that didn't tray to shift their business approaches and models are the ones that find it tough these days.
Step 1, win lottery, step 2 buy this car and bring it back to Australia for this years time attack!
Thought that was cancelled?
A beast that I hope will see more action on the track than as a trophy queen.
Fingers crossed!
That's a thing of beauty. I love time attack cars aero!
The car ran just over 51 seconds at Tsukuba. I wouldn't say it was never able to touch the faster cars.
I have enjoyed lusting over the BH auction listings recently.