With a rare glimpse of sunshine after a bleak winter and early spring, an enormous crowd and some of the finest Japanese machines that Ireland is home to, all rolled into one on the last weekend of April.
It’s fair to say that Jap(an)Fest Mondello Park set the bar high for the summer of Irish car culture ahead.
From the moment the event began, it was clear how big the day was set to be. While sunny skies always attract people to Mondello Park on a Sunday afternoon, no one could have expected 16,000 spectators through the gate. Everywhere you turned was a sea of people.
Handily, I managed to get parked right next to the Juicebox stand, which brought together a collection of some of the hardest-styled Japanese cars in Ireland. Every one of the Juicebox team creations would look right at home cruising through Tokyo backstreets under the cover of darkness.
I could have spent the whole day looking over cars like Chris Doogue’s incredible JZX Toyota Chaser or this Datsun Bluebird 510 sitting on air suspension. But sitting close by and with a large crowd constantly milling around it, a certain black AE86 stole my attention.
The car is special; not only in the quality of the build and choice of parts but the incredible backstory that cemented its place as a worthy ‘Car of the Show’ winner. For those unfamiliar, this is the Juicebox AE86 – a car dragged out of a hedge seven-plus years ago.
The rebuilding of this Toyota and the trials and tribulations along the way were documented by Neil Sheehan. It was heartwarming to see how enthusiastically Neil shared stories of the car and the build with strangers throughout the day, and it felt odd seeing faces known only through YouTube popping over for a look.
Some real nuggets presented themselves as I strolled through the vast sea of people in the Mondello Park paddock. Like this EP95 Toyota Starlet Remix. Have you never heard of a Starlet Remix? Well, that makes two of us. It turns out that only 204 examples ever rolled off the production line, with this Remix in 040 White being just one of 23. Fitted with a 4E-FE engine and AWD, this is a proper JDM rarity.
A key attraction of the event was the opening round of the 2024 Irish Drift Championship, a series making strides to rebuild itself to the level it once stood in world drifting.
The 20th season of pro drifting in Ireland was kicked off in style, with Daragh Spencer emerging victorious in his BMW E46.
Interspersed within the day’s competitive action were demo runs from James Deane in his four-rotor FD3S Mazda RX-7 and Darren McNamara in his incredible Group-D Audi. In front of packed Mondello banks, the two Irish drift stalwarts put on one hell of a show.
The harrowing loss of Drift Games‘ headquarters, cars, equipment and merchandise in a massive fire a few weeks back was at the forefront of many people’s minds. Seeing their never-give-up attitude supported by the people who helped build their dreams in the Irish drift and JDM car communities was great.
Dave Egan and Josh Holdsworth, the faces of Drift Games, competed in the IDC opening round, Josh in his Mazda MX-5 and Dave in James Deane’s E92 Eurofighter. The rest of the Drift Games team, armed mostly with borrowed cameras and equipment, scurried around to keep the vlogs going and the dream alive.
I’ll leave you now with a gallery of the immense variety of machines that made Jap(an)Fest Mondello 2024 such an incredible day.
Cian Donnellan
Instagram: Ciandon
Facebook: CianDonPhotography
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Are there any admins on this page? Lately comment sections are becoming such cancerous trash.....
Right? That Frank guy has been banned from several forums in the past and now we are being silenced for speaking out against it.
I love this. Irland seems to have such a rich jdm car culture
In the 1st picture,
can someone please explain to me the odd front window tinting that is common with the NGWIRC AE86 guys?
So happy to see Neil achieve his long term goal with his 86 debut, such an inspired style and high quality build!
The polarising filter on the camera shows the tempering of the glass, old windscreens were tempered instead of laminated
Weird, I thought it was just a reflection but I see it on the purple one later as well. Maybe an artifact from the polarizing filter?
Any rally content in the works?
I don't know why Ireland love AE86 so much, but it makes me happy. Seems they consistently have stellar examples. Thanks for the pics
The pictures are pretty great, I find myself looking not just at the cars, but the background, the people and buildings. I admire the builds people are bringing, I also like to see them in not so pristine states. The scrapes, dents show it’s history
Blame design school, but whenever I see a Datsun Bluebird Coupe, I think, "Ooh, an ugly 510 sedan." The roofline doesn't work with the rest of the car. Yeah, I get that rare is supposed to mean better, but in this case, it sure doesn't. Sometimes it's better to have the 'ordinary' one.