Kuala Lumpur brought the heat and humidity, but could SpeedFest 2024 bring enough modified Japanese cars to fill a decommissioned military airbase?

KL Base, right in the heart of Malaysia’s capital city, provided the perfect backdrop for this ambitious event. Locals mentioned that the empty airbase is slated for redevelopment soon, making this festival potentially a one-time experience in the unique location.

On arrival, I felt like we were driving onto a movie set. The location was as iconic as The Fast and the Furious ‘Race Wars’ scene, with endless rows of car-filled pavilions and hundreds of banners flapping, all set against one of the world’s most impressive city skylines.

The venue provided a gritty, almost post-apocalyptic vibe that perfectly suited SpeedFest’s massive ambitions.

Malaysia’s automotive industry and enthusiast base showed up in force, bringing everything from meticulously restored classics to the latest supercars and even some crazy surprising builds that I couldn’t have even anticipated . The juxtaposition of cutting-edge technology against the backdrop of weathered military structures added an element of surrealism to the event.

The heat and humidity were relentless, but they couldn’t dampen the spirits of the enthusiastic crowd. It was a testament to the passion that drives Malaysian car culture.

The sprawling airbase offered a unique setting that few other locations could match. The long, open runways provided the perfect canvas for drag races and drifting, while the expansive hangars housed some of the country’s best car builds.

Guests from Japan added a unique flavour to the event. Rubbing shoulders, sharing car stories, or even just posing for a selfie with some of the original legends who grew Japan’s modified car scene is an opportunity that’s super rare outside of Tokyo Auto Salon or a shortlist of Japanese events.

Notable guests included Daijiro Inada, founder of Option magazine and Tokyo Auto Salon. Inada-san is not only a Japanese car culture pioneer but also someone who has shaped car culture globally.

Shoji Inoue from Star Road is the wizard behind some of Japan’s most jaw-dropping classical restomods, especially his work on the iconic Datsun Z series. A mid-restoration Devil Blue 240Z was on display in the main hangar.

Sakamura-san from Garage Active ran out of ink after signing so many diecast models of his all-carbon R32 Skyline GT-Rs across the weekend. His quest to push the limited and redefine the ‘perfect’ GT-R really struck a chord with local enthusiasts.

These legends brought a unique vibe to SpeedFest, giving everyone the rare chance to hang out with some of the OG JDM scene influencers.

Over 1,000 cars officially entered the event across the show, drift, and drag stages. That’s excluding the countless modified vehicles that made their way into the spectator car parks, too.

Impressively, over 50,000 guests passed through the gates. I spoke with enthusiasts from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Brunei, Thailand, and even the United Kingdom.

It was sensory overload inside the huge hangar, but here are a few show-stoppers.

Eight RWB cars made a huge impact. I can’t remember seeing so many together outside of Nakai-san’s RWB New Year Hard Rock Tokyo Party in 2018, eclipsing even the RWB film debut in Melbourne in 2016.

This ultra-wide 997 is the youngest member of Malaysia’s RWB family. Completed just a few weeks ago, it was the last of six cars completed by Nakai-san during a mega build-a-thon.

Teoh from RWB Malaysia, one of the owners of Miyabi, Malaysia’s first RWB, was on hand to give me a quick look at the rest of the RAUH-Welt Begriff display.

Elsewhere, the hangar was littered with restored modern classics, European supercars, competition cars, and more. Almost all niches were represented.

CraftLab presented three rally legends – a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III, a GC8 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, and an ST185 Toyota Celica GT-Four. Despite all being works car replicas, they were a great addition to the show.

This brick hot rod was one of the oddities I did not expect to see, but I was delighted to check it out inside and out.

The local ‘Bricks’ team brought two cars made almost entirely out of Lego-style bricks, and complete with working doors, speakers, instruments, and even LED lighting. The yellow car is a 1:1 replica of a cheap buy popular local car, A Perodua Myvi.

Bonus points for the cute Panda passengers. I’d love to see one of these hit a wall at speed while being filmed in super-slow motion.

The standout cars included some unapologetically personalised rides, like this Honda Prelude with a full custom carbon fibre bodykit designed and made by its owner, Kevin Lim. Carbon replaces much of the cabin and floorpan, too.

There are some obvious styling cues taken from well-known body kit makers and perhaps even GT500 or time attack builds.

A Garrett turbo helps the worked H22A engine produce 300hp when VTEC kicks in, yo!

Another engine that caught people’s attention was this Mazda 13B rotary. The rest of the car was causing a scene, too.

Although there is no shortage of Nissan/Datsun Bluebird 910s back home in Australia, we don’t have any samurai-sword-wielding, R32-taillight-equipped, Japanese-police-liveried, and side-piped examples like Rotosun.  

There wasn’t a lot of pure competition machinery in the hall, but it was represented. This carbon Ginetta G58 weighs just over 900kg and is powered by a 6.2-litre V8. It constantly had people soaking up its exquisite carbon fibre details.

Overall, the variety of cars, the quality of the restorations, and the creativity behind many of the builds were amazing.

The only thing better than seeing some of these cars parked up was seeing them in action. And SpeedFest 2024 ticked that box, too. Stay tuned for part two of my coverage.

Matthew Everingham
Instagram: matthew_everingham
matt@mattheweveringham.com