New Year Meeting Part Two: Parking Lot Boogie
As I mentioned in the previous post, the JCCA New Year Meeting draws classic cars and classic car enthusiasts from all over Japan. The majority of the cars that make the trek, however, did not come to be displayed in the show itself. From early morning until late afternoon, the streets were filled with the sounds of Solex-equipped L28's echoing off the nearby skyscrapers. While the cars in the show itself were mostly of the restored, collectible, variety, the parking lots were filled with a variety of machines ranging from from the mild, to the wild, to the downright strange.
While I was walking around with my camera, I wondered if I would look funny wandering the parking lot taking photos. Luckily, my worries soon evaporated when I saw many other people walking around the parking lots taking photos and enjoying the cars. The parking areas were literally another show in themselves. There were even people selling parts out of their trunks and "tailgating". Although the cars in the actual show were limited to being older than about 1979, the machines in the parking lots spanned far beyond that. Walking around ,I noticed many cars that I recognized from Japanese magazines. The cool thing was that the cars were coming and going all day long, so you could see them in action. As the uniform-wearing traffic guards would direct cars out of the parking lot, in true-boso fashion many the drivers would dump the clutch and scream out into the street ,blowing their signature musical horns. The crowd absolutely loved it and even the traffic guards didn't seem to care.
At first it was a little intimidating being around these wild-machines, I was kind of scared that some angry Yankees might not like a tall American guy taking pictures of their rides. It turns out that everyone was really cool, and they loved the attention. All the dudes were really easy-going. I even struck up a few conversations with some other enthusiasts/car owners. It was a great time.
Now on with the photos-
Toyota GX71's like this one have been a long time favorite of this crowd.
Not all of the cars were so extreme. Here is a very simple, yet tasteful S30Z.
yon-meri (Japanese for "4 door C110")
Painted like a Japanese fire truck, this wagon is packing 3SGE power, notice the roll cage.
The 70 chassis Corolla has been a long-time favorite of privateers in Japan.
F31 Nissan Leopard AKA Infiniti M30 in the United States.
Shakotan kenmeri.
Cherry PL510 Bluebird sedan. Awesome work on the ride height and wheel fitment of the Watanabe's.
This 911 looks like it is ready to go prowling for GTR's on the Wangan.
One of my favorite S30Z's of the day.
More GX71 coolness.
Sharknosed GZ10 Soarer. The paint job is so cool.
GC210 "Japan" Skyline.
More kenmeri.
This one may upset the purists a little.
If only this picture had sound...
Three 110 Sunny's.
I loved this Laurel SGX.
Three nearly-stock GC110 Skylines.
Not so stock GC110.
SSR Mk. 1's, oni-camu, ground-scraping GX71.
240ZG and friends.
AE86, check out the over-fenders.
Early Mark II/Chase goodness.
Z31
Ultra-low Sunny Truck.
"Just another" C10 Skyline.
More? Why not.
Aero-equipped S130Z with panasports. Someone in the US, buy one of these cheap and build it.
Kyuu-sha heaven.
More 70-chassis. So simple, yet so aggressive. Most of these cars had an attention to detail that you need to see in real life to appreciate.
TE27
DR30 Skyline RS-Turbo.
Another 510.
C110 Skyline Ambulance. Skyline Ambulance!!?
Sci-fi Chrysler Imperial. This one was a fan-favorite.
Celica XX.
Kenmeri Skyline with ultra-rare and ultra-expensive Sakura wheels.
I'll let you guys go through the rest of the photos on your own. The full gallery is right HERE . I hope you enjoy looking at the photos as much as I did taking them. That ends the New Year Meeting coverage for now. I am already excited for the '09 NYM. By the way, I have been reading all of your feedback about the site and I really appreciate it. I am coming up with some ideas and I will post them very soon. Stay tuned and as always thanks for reading.
Those are some impressive cars.What a great scene they have over there!!
J.S.
Posted by: James S. | January 28, 2008 at 10:37 PM
Love the photo's. I'm also interested in Rare Japanese wheels and their history if you wanna do an article on them...
Posted by: Lawrence | January 28, 2008 at 11:08 PM
Fantastic selection of photos again :) ... the car painted like a red firetruck did start life as a red fire trucked :) .. the Skyline Ambulance is apparently the only one left in Japan .. it belongs to a friend of Jetsun : http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zu3h-sonm/carindex.htm .. Keep up the great work :)
Posted by: HoTWire | January 29, 2008 at 12:36 AM
I hate you for posting this. it makes me miss my bosozoku japan.
goddamnit.
Posted by: Yukio | January 29, 2008 at 06:35 AM
The coolest thing about this website is that no matter how many times you see the same type of car, even if it's exactley identical except for the wheels, you still take pictures. Amazing job!
Posted by: Josh / F/M Tuning | January 29, 2008 at 06:08 PM
Photos are always the best and i love all the different styles you captured..it's almost like being in the Japan car scene, without having to do the traveling. Thx for these.
Posted by: Edward U. | January 30, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Great photos! :)
Would it be okay if we used some of the Shakotan car photos on our website (and credit you of course)?
Posted by: bosozoku | January 28, 2009 at 06:27 AM