Posts Tagged ‘tokyo’

Mopar Muscle at Shelby’s No.20.

Posted: April 17, 2009 in car life
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Last time we were at Shelby’s No.20, Big Boss Okuyama san mentioned that his muscle car buddies have a bit of a carpark gathering on the third Sunday of each month. Then winter arrived & standing about in a car park didnt seem too appealing.

Well, now it’s spring. There are many reasons why I like spring, being the lead in to summer being the main one, but now I have a new one.

Not Mopar, nor Muscle, but on a sunny Sunday, a beach buggy gives a fellow funny ideas. Okuyama san seems quite fond of it.

After pointing us toward the farty yellow machine, Okuyama san peeled back some of the covers on car looking shapes in the shop car park…

If I had a ’68 Challenger, I’d probably park it next to a ’69 Charger too…

I mentioned to the missus that we need a car like this. Usually she wastes no time in discouraging my potentially fiscally irresponsible flights of fancy, but Im not convinced that I didnt see a smile and a slight nod. So Im taking that as agreement that in a year with an aka-chan on the way that I should be figuring out some way to own a black 1969 Dodge Charger, or at least some sort of automobile from this era with a Hemi V8…

…like a 1970 Roadrunner fer instance.

The first guest car to arrive also had a live axle.

Meh. But the owner was cool. Same colourway (!) as Okuyama san’s ’68 Shelby GT500. At least Roush gets rid of the cart suspension when they hop up the new ones. Unlike Shelby…

This was the next arrival. Word!

The interior of this car was pretty mint, so here’s a better look at the seats…

We heard this GTX some time before we saw it.

This would be such a badass machine to see thundering past on a Japanese expressway.

The Valiant in the background arrived just after the GTX. Check out that stance!

Flex Support indeed.

This Valiant is pretty much perfect.

I had “if that car was for sale and I had the money…” thoughts about every car here, except the Mustang, but this car, well.

Watashi wa infatuated desu.

Sometimes Japan is just like every other auto obsessed nation.

Couldnt finish without including Okuyama san’s killer office kei-van.

Red Pandas

Posted: December 17, 2008 in car life
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Hachi Roku’s are thick on the ground around here. Ive seen plenty of white/black Panda AE86’s on the streets, but being a bit slow on the uptake, have yet to photograph one…

Most here are pretty businesslike looking too, it’s pretty cool seeing a full caged Hachi Roku growling away in morning traffic at the Route 16 lights that Im waiting at quite frequently.

These were all captured at rest, because, as I say, Im a bit slow.

This was parked in a factory carpark up the road from Flyrat, which I will get on to in the next few days.

Apartment car park near Shelbys No.20.

I saw this one on my second day in Japan, in July, near the local supermarket. It was 42 degrees that day – 34 warmer than today…

Next to the Sakai Gawa cyclepath, near my place, as I was pootling along on my jitensha, enjoying weather that was far superior to now.

These two were also next to the Sakai Gawa cyclomichi, but about 12km north. I was enjoying my jitensha travels that day.

Up the hill and ’round the corner from mi casa. I didnt take a photo from the front because it had a rust hole in the bonnet. But Im feeling ruthless, so I might go back and do just that…

Still in my neighbourhood…

Posted: November 24, 2008 in Paint on the street
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Along Route 16, close to where it crosses the Tomei Expressway, the walkway ducks under a couple of lanes of road. This area has quite a lot of construction happening at the moment, so Im not sure how long this Rakugaki will last, but it does seem to have been there for quite a few years thus far.

The flickr set is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pigsofdarkness/sets/72157607749735676/

Anyway, back to my neighbourhood…

Posted: October 23, 2008 in car life
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After my first sortie to Shelbys No.20 to snap some illicit shots of my new favourite kei van, I’d harboured a hankerin’ to get back and take a look inside. This would require an accomplice with a higher level of Nihongo than mine. Such as a local. Such as the missus. Sweet as.

Doesnt take too long to realise that this wont be your usual shopping experience, even for Tokyo.

Big Boss (says so on his business card), Okuyama san graciously let me blunder about his premises, pointing & shooting with my point & shoot. He is a drag racer himself with a stunning collection of muscle metal. One of the first things he mentioned was the matching numbers Shelby GT500 in the far corner of the shop. “Really?” I squeaked.

So it is.

I asked Okuyama san how long he has had it. “About ten years. I had to work very very hard!”. Hai so desu!

I couldnt get a decent shot of it, but someone else did.

Fancy a Bell Helmets bag? Same.

I found some killer old school Yamaha motocross shirts. I (ahem) want those too…

I was beginning to detect a slight Stateside influence…

…remembering that this is a shop with the world’s coolest proprietor, not a museum where you pay to get in.

Okayama san explained to the missus that living a lifestyle like this in Japan can have it’s difficulties as many people (esp. the older ones) dont approve of or understand a US centric drag racing/muscle car obession, but it is all worthwhile due to the people you meet (Ive paraphrased a bit here…). He is a prime example of that.

Big Daddy may have left us, but the trinkets we have to remember him with are cool as all hell. Im a starter for the burger holding Rat Fink nodding doll. As it were.

Modern Nascar toots, but The King ruled. Peter Max (http://www.petermax.com/) aint bad either…

I will never have enough money to purchase everything I wanted to from this shop. I dont feel too bothered by that however. I will happily go back every week for the rest of my life to deal to my wages… Having seen the Hell Motors Triumph cap, I now have the special feeling that some fine person created a baseball cap with me in mind. Mmmm… special feeling…

I imagine that after about my fiftieth visit, I may have an idea of about half the stock here. Then I can start on the next fifty visits.

At various times my manners would leave me completely and I would leave the missus chatting with Okayama san as I would wander around the shop again like a slack jawed yokel.

Im not sure what is under this cover, but I did notice some mighty slick, mighty wide tires underneath. Okayama san will be competing at Motegi on December 7. Same day as the Yokohama Hot Rod Show. Might be a good day to eat a hamburger. And drink a Coke. Then a beer. Followed by another beer.

We had a GoGo Time alright. Shelbys No.20 is worth a visit to Japan in it’s own right, but if you do make it here be absolutely sure to pay a visit. And check it out – open to midnight Saturday! If you need directions, I can point you there.

Arigato Gozai Masu Okayama san!

l like my neighbourhood…

Posted: October 20, 2008 in car life
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Here are some shots from Bee*R that I took the other day. Bee*R is just around the corner from where I live. So I stalk them pretty regularly. And they are very nice about it. So far.

Tsuyoshi Tezuka’s D1 Skylines. Yep.

Those crazy Skidboys…

The Bosses everyday Hachiroku notchback. It is definitely everyday – I see it here pretty much every time I go past.

Meanwhile, further up the road, past the corn…

…is M Sport, of race & rally fame.

I took this lurking about in a side street. Figured my life needed some glamour.

Further up the same road is Shelbys No.20, back near Bee*R is a Monster (Tajima) Motorsport workshop, then there is the scooter customizing place…

Kei-van coolness in Machida, Tokyo.

Posted: October 8, 2008 in car life
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Since arriving in Japan Ive come to understand the worth of kei-class vehicles. Tax & registration advantages aside, the lack of road width makes a narrow track getabout make total sense. In a country with wide open spaces, some of these cars & especially vans look as though they may experience strife in a moderate side wind, but here the proportion is just right. Side winds are not too much of a problem when the street is 8 metres wide with 3 storey houses lining it. Conversely, the American (Amerikajin?) influence is strong here, partly due to the amount of Americans stationed here, the rabid car culture and general interest in things American among many of those born in the last 40 years. So, quite frequently you’ll see totally inappropriate American iron thugging it’s way through streets barely wide enough for a Toyota Crown. Hummers in Tokyo? Really? Wasnt a Nissan Patrol big enough? Anyway, Im even boring myself now…

Sooo… here’s the answer, in the car park of Shelbys No.20 in Machida in western Tokyo. This van is almost perfect to my way of thinking. So Cal style with hints of Bonneville! I didnt have time to go into the store, but Im heading back soon.

Not sure which I like most – wheel treatment, fake side pipes, real painted graphics…

…possibly the graphics, but then there is the fan, the dice, the wheel…

That rear door looks pretty kustom, but the skull makes it perfect. The details on this are awesome. This van deserves a custom shoe!

When it comes to used tyres, bigger is probably better.

Tbc.. in fact, I may pay another visit on Saturday…