Tokyo Auto Salon isn’t Tokyo Auto Salon without all the hype of a Liberty Walk car reveal, and for 2024, Wataru Kato and his team delivered all the energy with another ’80s supercar icon at the center of it all.
We’ll get to the LB-Works Lamborghini Countach in a moment, because that was just one of a lot of Liberty Walk cars on display at the Makuhari Messe last weekend.
Liberty Walk shared space with Tag, Bullet, and Sphere Light brands, with a total of 100 staff working across the giant booth over the course of the three-day event.
No one does it bigger at Tokyo Auto Salon than Kato-san, and come 2:00pm on Friday afternoon when the covers came off Liberty Walk’s two TAS 2024 headliners, there was a rock concert vibe.
Let’s start with the Countach, which features a brand new LB-Works body kit that adds 40mm of extra width to each side of the this ’80s poster car. On top of the fenders, which of course require the original bodywork to be cut to fit, the complete kit features a new front bumper with diffuser and canards, side skirts and side diffusers, and out back a rear diffuser, rear wing and roof air intake.
Pricing has yet to released, but given the full kit features more pieces than the LB-Works Ferrari F40 equivalent, it’s unlikely to be any cheaper than that, which runs US$127,600 in FRP and US$160,600 in CFRP, plus fitting of course and the other necessities – air suspension and custom wheels.
The question is though, if you had a Countach, would you consider the LB-Works conversion?
Speaking of F40s, the most talked about car of Tokyo Auto Salon 2023 was back, this time with a new Metallic Blueberry exterior courtesy of Inoztech. It is, of course, not the first F40 that’s been given the Inoztech wrap treatment, but we’re loving the blue vinyl and contrasting white livery from Blackfish Graphics.
If you dream of owning and driving a Liberty Walk-enhanced supercar but only have a kei car budget, don’t worry, Kato-san has something special for you. This sweet little machine was unveiled by the LB Kids. No, it’s not the electric ride-on, although that does look cool…
It’s this – the LB-Works LB40.
If you can get your hands on an Autozam (Mazda) AZ-1, LB-Works can turn it into a micro F40 replica. And even better, the conversion doesn’t come with a full-size price tag; the full kit, which is a combination of FRP and dry carbon, runs just US$22,660 plus fitting.
The Fiat Abarth 595 is not quite as small as a kei car but is still compact by modern standards, and it too now has a Liberty Walk solution. LB-Works teamed up Abas Works for this demo car, and it wears the full kit – front bumper with canards, hood, side skirts, rear diffuser and wing, and of course wide body fenders at all four corners.
Kato-san might be best known for his shock supercar-widening antics, but his roots are squarely in shakotan. So it was cool to see his old Kenmeri Skyline back at Tokyo Auto Salon – albeit this time with The Smurfs collaboration we didn’t know we needed. And how cool is the C10 Skyline parked alongside?!
Blurring the lines between contemporary car design and shakotan style is the LB-Works Nissan Fairlady Z/400Z, which Kato-san unveiled at the SEMA Show last year.
Another 2023 release was this – the LB-Works McLaren 720S. The complete body kit adds a front diffuser, front canards, hood, side diffusers and door panels, a rear diffuser, rear wing and wide fenders. The black on black scheme looks sinister.
The final car we want to show you is a collaboration between Liberty Walk, Alpharex USA and Likewise. This GR86 is tough!
Another year of Liberty Walk at Tokyo Auto Salon has us asking the same question as always – how will Kato-san top this? I guess we’ll all find out 12 months from now.
The Speedhunters
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Photography by Rick Muda
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Additional Photography by Toby Thyer
Instagram: _tobinsta_
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Looks like LB doesn't wave the Imperial Japanese Navy flag anymore with the exception of the a one on that C10 Skyline. Guess woke-ness is part of doing business in 2024...
I think the only way to top the Countach next year, is for Kato-san to widen a Ferrari F50...
Well honestly I hope not...
Correct me on this but I thought I remember seeing the Lambo around already? Hasn't this kit been launched for awhile now? Interesting for this kind of company - once you make kits for all the popular models where do you go then? Start over? I love the kits they do but seems like a limited company.
I appreciate the effort, but the LBW kit doesn´t add anything to the natural carisma of a stock Countach. The Autozam is cool though.
Wait...these kits cost $127,000?
Hahahahah people actually pay that much for this sh*t? Hahahah that's hilarious. Wow. This hit a new level of stupidity.
I don't understand the fanaticism over LW. None of these cars look good; they're just lowered and made silly-wide with flares that don't really suit. Do they handle well? Is the suspension and geometry corrected? I just don't get it...
How dare you think, question, and use your brain. Does this car actually handle?!!? MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED BEING A HATER IT WUD HANDLE. LW IS SO DOPE BC THEY ARE DIFFERENT N BERING DIFFERENT IS ALL THAT MATTERS GOSH.
What I just replied to you is complete sarcasm, but this is how most people including a lot of the staff of this publication now think.
They'll say, "Don't you get it? This is about feelings and the style. It's about the aesthetic and respecting all builds. Doing whatever you want with a car. That's whats important."
This is what cars have devolved into. Everyone gets to have an opinion, no one cares about whether or not the car still handles so long as it breaks the internet and gets them 10,000 hits. OF COURSE these cars handle like garbage. Are you kidding me? Take one of these things around the ring and I guarantee you it goes slower than the original vehicle provided they are being compared on the same times.
These builds are absolute trash. But again, this is what the industry has turned into. It's all these men in their feelings about criticism. No one competes anymore, racing a car...forget about tracking it...is the absolute exception these days.
The Neanderthals have taken over. Welcome to 2024.