Tokyo Auto Salon 2008 Part One: Intro

As far as the auto afternarket in Japan goes, Tokyo Auto Salon is without a doubt the most well covered event of the year. Reporters and photographers swarm from all over Japan and countries all over the world to the Makuhari Messe in to cover the show. Despite the fact that Auto Salon is not even over yet, blogs and websites everywhere are posting up coverage as fast as it becomes available. I decided that I will let the other guys cover the "mainstream" stuff and instead here I will post the stuff that I personally found interesting. I'm mostly talking about things other than the R35 GTR, Evo X, and STI. That it is not to say I did not photograph or enjoy checking out all that stuff, just that I won't spend the time to post it on this site since it can easily be found on a number of sites elsewhere.

Although I have experienced a lot of car events in Japan, this was actually my first trip to TAS. Before I start, here are a couple quick observations from TAS.

1. TAS is PACKED. In some of the photos I took you can see for yourself just how jam packed full of people the show is. This is a great sign for the health of the auto scene in Japan, but damn. it is hard to get photos that don't have a a bunch of people walking in front of the car. Just walking around the show it's like playing Frogger trying to avoid walking in front of someone's camera. Or you can just be a jackass like some people and walk right in front of someone taking a picture without even caring.

2. While the newest models are naturally the most popular platforms for tuning, it's nice to see older, traditional platforms continue to be pushed to areas that would be unheard of a few years ago. This goes for both performance and styling. More on this in a later post.

3. European cars, particuarly BMW's were huge at TAS '08. Not just in the typical VIP/Luxury scene but in the street/circut section of the market. HKS had a pair of impressive E46 M3`s and of course you also saw how Amuse stepped up the game with the new Ericcson division.

I have over 700 pictures to upload, but I am not going to do everything at once so I will break things up a little bit.

I shot virtually every photo with a wide angle lens due to the difficulty in getting un-obstructed shots. Some of the angles might look a little funny becuause of that.

For now I will start with some of the machines in the Option/Option2/Drift Tengoku "Orange Carpet" section.

Option2 put out a special publication called "Evolution Q" which covers modified classic cars. There was an Evolution Q section that included an bitchin' KGC10 Skyline from Rocky Auto, a goregous Blue S30Z from Star Road, The Hot Staff F20C powered AE86 coupe and the Top Secret Celica LB that debuted at TAS '07.

The Star Road S30Z, awesome.

Friends Racing S15 faced S14 Silvia in the Option booth. Inose and Friends Racing build some of the best drift cars around. They never have less than five or six hundred horespower.

Impact JZS161 Aristo showing that Advan RS's look good on anything.

Mild, naturally aspirated S15 Silvia. Perfect ride height and wheel fitment.

Gendou Missle Kumiko's Garage Saurus supported drag spec 32 GTR.

Drift Tengoku's booth in my opinion had the best display, then again I have a soft spot for wild drift machines.

For genuine enthusiasts of the drift scene in Japan. This car and its driver need no introduction. If you don't know this Silvia belongs to Naoki Nakamura of team BURST. He is also the pilot of the D-Max S15 Silvia in the D1 Street Legal Series. In addition him and his BURST brothers can be found shredding aero parts at MSC events all over Japan.

Who needs R35's and Evo X's when you have the Magician JZX100 Mark II.

I'm awfully beat from two days of taking photos and collecting stickers so I will stop at this for now. More updates soon.

Take a look at the ever-expaning Tokyo Auto Salon 2008 photo album right HERE .

Comments

[Brian Harte]

Collecting stickers eh???

I want a full report please, Mike.
Thanks

-Brian Harte

[cali_sole_fresh]

that KGC10 skyline from rocky auto is bitchin'!! i'd sell my integra and all my fresh sneakers for that car!! hahaha

[Driving Schools Finder]

I found some really amazing design in this auto show. Moreover the concept of smart car was something to lok after

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