Japan Car Culture Set For 2014

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Japan has 15 national holidays per year, that's 5 more than USA and almost twice as many as Great Britain; but because Japan is well... Japan, it maintains its level of convenience regardless of the color of the calendar day.  Except for one: the new years day.  For first 3 days of the year, the country just stops.  Remarkably punctual garbage collecting trucks are at stand still and the annoying parking wardens are nowhere to be seen! Entire country is at home eating traditional New Year meals and expressing New Year greetings to one another.

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu - the famous New Year greeting heard across the country, but after greeting entire extended family, close friends, and neighbors, on January 3rd car enthusiasts gather at the famous Daikoku Parking Area to greet each other.

Welcome to what very well may be the biggest car meet in this part of the world.

A biggest not just in numbers but in variety as well,

Everything comes together regardless of taste,

style,

and appeal.

Car enthusiasts from entire Kanto region, and some from a lot further out have gathered to show off their rides and to meet their fellow petrol heads that they haven't seen from last year!

After all, a new near is a new beginning, so everybody is excited to get together and do things that they love best: check out all the cool rides about the lot.

And so they should, as if anything the cars at this meet were nothing short of phenomenal.

There were at least six of these beautiful Ferrari Dino's and some of them in rare, but typical for Japan white color.

Lancia Delta remains one of the fans' favorite in Japan and this example summarizes their passion. 

They were joined by classics from Germany....

...arriving in style.

The thing about German car manufacturers is that they never had a quiet time.  Every generation has produced something special, and as always Japanese managed to put the insane sticker on them.

I was fascinated seeing these monsters from the 80's still being present today.  The awkward Koenig wide body kit with deep dish BBS wheels wrapped in Pirelli 345/35/ZR15 tires look dated but are still pretty badass at the same.

But as much as I want to go on about German car history, the sounds of Lamborghini's V12 reminded what are we here for.

The super-car boys started to arrive, bringing some of the hottest rides this world has ever seen to the event

 Some of them in their factory look,

While some not quite so,

While some were just plain race cars, sitting on racing slicks and were driven here on public highways! 

Everyone's jaw just dropped when, probably the only one of its kind in the world beast showed up.  Yes, this is a customized Pagani Zonda.  As much as it has stunned everyone it also, for the lack of better word infuriated a lot of people. A Pagani Vehicle is synonymous with perfection, but apparently not to its owner for whom the 1  million dollar vehicle wasn't enough.  Behind the sticker covered body with deleted headlights, the inconel exhaust gave its way to stainless steel, stock Brembo brakes replaced with Endless kit and Work cast chrome wheels were preferred to lightweight performance orientated alloys, which were made specifically for this car.  We may have already answered this, but why? Yes, because he can...That's why!

On the flip-side, this beautiful and rare Ferrari F40 had its fair share of upgrades such as custom titanium exhaust, Brembo brakes, intake, and inter-cooler, but the owner didn't touch the exterior, making this all-time classic a worthy competitor to modern super-cars, while keeping its museum looks.

As the lot was beginning to fill up,

..it could be clearly seen what made this meet truly unique and very Japanese. It was the clash of cultures that would be hard to imagine anywhere else.

At what other place would you see low riders blasting 90's gagsta rap from their 1000 watt speakers mix up with supercar owners in such fashion?

Speaking of low-riders and classic Detroit muscle, they definitely stole the uniqueness award and really spiced up the event.

The variety of classics present at the event was nothing short of impressive, considering the fact how hard they are to get here in Japan and how expensive any kind of body work is.

There was no apparent limit to imaginations as some cars looked like absolute monsters.  I do believe that Hollywood producers should have a look at some of these crazy rides.

And a number plate cover that sums it up well.

Of course, since it's Japan, JDM machines were present in numbers showing the amount of work put into them that could only be exceeded by investments easily surpassing the cost of the cars themselves.

But of course it were the Skylines, virtually from all generations that made the impact.

The R32 GTR, which gave the brand its recognition, changed the face of racing, and gave the first embarrassment to German rivals.

Meanwhile R33 GTR, perhaps the most underrated of them all, pretty much defines the car culture of the 90's.

There were plenty of R34 owners, who should be proud of the fact that many fans of the brand claim that their GTR was the last "real" one,

but it never bothered the R35 owners, as they enjoy giving the exotics the run for their money.

I still find it amusing how not in such distant past there was a claim by Nissan that R35 was not to be modded.  Today, locating a stock GTR was a challenge.
 

JDM is of course more than Nissan's sport coupe, as the NSX owners had a gathering of their own,

It was also exciting to see old Nissan Stageas make it to this meet in their various forms, from the R34 look,

to the classic JDM stance on beautiful BBS LM rims.  This is what classic Japanese modding is all about.

But of course the crowd-pleaser of the JDM world was this gorgeous LFA.  It's only second one I've seen on the streets in Japan as these cars are very rare even on their home turf.

Rarely you get to see entire car culture coming together in one event.  What makes it even more special is the fact that this wasn't sanctioned, or officially sponsored in the manner that most car shows would be. It was enthusiasts, just like any one of us driving, chatting, taking pictures, and drinking coffee.

Events like this however, are true representation of Japan's car culture, and this is what Tokyo Car Parade is all about.

I am hoping that as we go along I will get more exposure so I can bring even more details about different car scenes that were present here today. 

Thank you for reading everyone, shares, comments, and follows are much appreciated, and please check out more pictures from the event just below.