Event: Japfest 2012..... - Juiceboxforyou

Ah good old Japfest… where to begin, this is the third year we have covered this event on Juicebox. It’s sort of the be all end the entire car scene as a whole at the end of every year. Everything and anything can come out of the woodwork and be on display, many a time I’ve been shocked, left scratching my head wondering where the fuck that did car come from. That feeling is one that I’ve always loved about the Irish car scene, we as a tiny little country was saturated with awesome cars from Japan that you never actually know what’s hiding down a dodgy little back lane, or hiding in some farm somewhere in Kerry…. With the “road car” scene falling down around us… it’s ironic that the drift scene is flourishing, we are spitting out some of the best drivers ever… going up against some of the world’s best.

As much as this was an amazing year for drifting, I couldn’t shake the chill of what was happening in the car scene. This year was just like any other, but you can see the toll this entire recession has taken on the scene as a whole… sure stuff has popped up like this awesome Carina, and stuff like this will always pop up and get excited, one of Irelands best traits… “I have a friend with this 180, it’s got everything”… but this year really did reveal the true extent as to what has happened to the car scene, the younger generation are stepping up and filling the shoes of the older guys.

The “big guys” the older guys from the early to mid-first 10 years of this millennium, who will always be remembered as the era in the Irish car scene who brought in seriously amazing cars, somehow it makes me sad that most of these have either been broken or sold foreign or become drift slags, the working class filled with tradesmen and other heroes, the guys who could muscle up the ten to twenty grand and bring in crazy cars like this stunner of a laurel…. which somehow was sitting in the carpark and could have easily replaced many cars inside…

Or this monster of a chaser.. Cars that fetched crazy money, but somehow the country managed to flourish with amazing pieces of Japanese steel like this month after month. It’s evident that these days are slowly starting to fade, without being all mushy and stuff its clearly true, this year as opposed to last year at Japfest had less of the rear wheel drive Nissans or Toyotas or Mazdas in attendance, and it’s not us the car lovers fault, it’s the way the countries chain reaction economic downturn has affected everyone, fuel prices, mortgage, kids, tax, life, all these things that for the Irish people have become somewhat of an annoying burden, a lot more than it used to be…

The generation before us may have suffered the same type of deal, I’m not old enough to comment on that, as we all live in the now and watch the cars around us vanish left right and centre, it was very evident at Japfest just the extend of how bad things are starting to go. This has been going on now for three or more years, when paying 20k for an DC5 Integra or 12k for a DC2 turned into 1800 for a DC2 or 4.5k for a DC5. This is a different time to older generation of mk2 escorts, capris and sierras… They may have a different story to tell, but this will be one that we will look back on these last ten years have made a crazy mark on the genuine Irish car enthusiasts….

People like Wez, from WKD and the many others like him, who can count on their fingers some of the best looking cars the Japanese car enthusiast could ever dream of owning, or selling. One look at the WKD imports car section and you will see what we mean… It makes me laugh most of the time when you lurk an American car forum and see people freaking out about a set of Japanese rims that are considered “rare” guys splashing out over 1000 dollars for a set of Advans that some guy has chucked in a bush at the side his shed in Meath…. I wonder if a day will ever come when cars like this HKS Evo will come into the country again, or did we witness something amazing for the last decade, something we should all remember…

I feel bad for the next generation, the internet generation, who know what’s what, and know what looks good, (well at least they should!) The world is flooded with car blogs now, only two seconds on the internet and you are presented with an image of what is “cool” or what trend is “in” or what you can do to make your car look good…because of the price of things, and the lack of work it’s so much tougher for the younger generation to build their version of something, because most of them are either gone, too expensive or the tax and petrol prices are insane. But with any type of situation like this, people are always going to be creative, and the Irish scene never ceases to amaze me.

You stumble upon fresh builds like Jasons KE70, there will always be people like Jason, who just go for it, spend the cash and do it right, those people will always be few and far between with the way things have gone, but they will be there. This is one of those things that hit home at this car show….

The same goes for this stunner of a Celica, how many people out there are not buying rotas, spending the big cash on things like brand new smoked chrome Enkei’s… This car like Jasons were simply stunning, these people will always exist.

As Ireland turns into diesel heaven, and people thing that a Golf making a “boo” sound is cool, there will always be people like the owner of this Celica who come out at times and can just blow you away with attention to detail and quality. This newer generation will have it much tougher to make a mark, do their thing, I spend most of my days talking with owners of cars, arranging meetings and photo-shoots, and running this website for the last three years, going to as much events as possible and checking out the car parks, you really get a first-hand glimpse as to what is going.

You want more people to build cars like Darren and his DA,

Cars that don’t have three stickers on them, a set of illuminous wheels and think its finished or feature worthy…

As much controversy as this car has caused, I simply cannot stress enough how good it is, I love the fact that the owner keeps pushing himself to try harder on perfecting and reinventing what many would have already settled at… and yes more of these people do exist, and should exist, but there just isn’t enough of that push going on throughout the country…

Jackie and his EG are another example of this drive…. someone who I will always admire for stepping to the side and building his own take on an EG civic, his car is so damn good that it would easily belong at an Eibach meet in California, or belong on any other blog around the world as a desirable car, people like Jacky have always given hope, someone who just nails it regardless of a money situation, or whatever, and guys like Jacky are no millionaires, not even close… yet he still has one of the best civics this country has ever seen..

This is where this entire rant should start to come together, we went to Japfest this year expecting a hell of a lot of new projects or cars being churned out, something you had not seen before, like this s2000, perfect example of the right things in the right places, and just like the green one which we forgot to take photos of from the north, this is the kind of thing that should have been in the masses at the show, because the country is action packed with the stuff…

For the cars that did actually turn a head or two, like this Corolla, which is a pretty good attempt at an otherwise overlooked car in the country… spot the snap off kit!

This starlet was great, I remember seeing this last year but it just had the right combination of stuff that visually made you look at it for that little bit longer than usual, especially with that front bumper… being different and absolutely working, not just being different for the sake of it.

This two door was also another example of a project that was done right and came out on top, there should be much much more content in Ireland along the lines of this, (and I don’t mean 86 wise, just in general, the Irish AE86 scene is actually one of the only areas which churns out all kinds of goodness!)

Simple formulas, like this Ferio on FN01R-C HYPER’s should be everywhere, and looking this good. It’s not unimaginable at all, in fact it gets a little irritating when you see that up north or in the UK they have managed to nail this type of thing almost overnight.

Going from the Max Power Era…

To timeless formulas like this, Im actually so happy someone finally put white Regamasters on a blue EG6, another amazing simple and effective look.

Another incredible car that we will hopefully be doing more on soon is this CL7, the perfect example of taking elements from the web and from personal taste and creating another amazing looking car, hats off to this owner! I can’t stress enough how good it was to see a CL7 done right.

Another amazing looking car, that keeps getting better… the owner worked towards getting the wheels to fit right, another car we have been keeping an eye on and always bring a smile, this formula is everywhere on the internet, and this country has all the goodies, one look on done deal or drift Ireland and you will see stuff for sale. Wheels, kits, you name it, it’s just about bringing it all together the right way like you see above.

Even this Mirage, such a clean and simple look. No nonsene, just a 99 Mirage on SSR type C wheels.

Other cars that are always nice to see are things like this Charade, nice to see both of those cars are still around; they always bring a smile or two and look great.

With the level in the show being somewhat mediocre, I have to include some of the drift cars, not only are these dudes pushing the cars to the limits, but some of these machines look absolutely amazing, and credit is due for building such amazing looking cars that didn’t actually have to look that good! Brian’s AE86, all function and 100% good looking, it was so nice to watch this car drifting throughout the year…

This Soarer…

Which deserves a second angle for being so enjoyable, these cars pretty much never really did exist in Ireland, so when you see one with a decent set of wheels, especially at the back end, and one that looks this clean, especially for a drift car, it easily deserves two shots!

Mikes FC…. no explanation required.

Micheal swan and his s13, I hope he has this car forever, and never fixes those bumpers, this car has always been so simple and somehow the damage tells a story.. and the car wears it well…

Erm…

Nicky’s R32, Nicky has had an amazing year in this pretty menacing looking skyline.

This 15 is just insane! Everything about the looks and whats hiding under the bonnet…..

Wez has just turned out an amazing drift car for next year, and under the bonnet was one of the most aesthetically pleasing things I had seen all weekend.

This deserves a picture.. for just being… well look at it!

Remember earlier when we talked about cars that come out of nowhere… well yeah, I’ve never seen this 15 before, so this was a nice surprise. Such a mean looking car and it was more enjoyable that it was sitting on a fat set of SSR Koenig’s that filled those fat arches, but they had the wrong sticker on the wheels! Regardless this was amazing…

It always makes me laugh when I try think about this whole JDM car scene in twenty years, what way will thing be, when all of us are old and these cars are considered classics, when cars like this 86 come out once a month and kids are scratching their heads wondering “what the fuck is that”…..

I hope that cars like this will still be around then, that the Irish weather and economy won’t be after taken its toll on pretty much everything, It will be amusing to be around in thirty years’ time and see cars like this MK2 at a meet, cars like this will only get better and better with age, true story!

Take a look at most of the 80’s and 90’s Japanese cars, I’m sure many car companies are kicking themselves chassis like the AE86 and S13 and EG civic are still to be found absolutely everywhere… that pretty much most fresh features on cars that are being built around the world are not the new Honda Civic but in fact another DC2.. with that trusty B series…

The fact that cheap disposable run arounds like this EP70 are the fantasies of a young generation, as they save their pennies and buy that rare turbo front grille, or a set of mesh wheels and try about three different profiles until they have a desired stance… These days cars become more and more disposable, but for some reason many of these cars from the 80’s and 90’s have stuck around because they were great cars…

Or cars like Adrian’s 86, which is his pride and joy and has been one of the most competitive cars throughout the year in Ireland, and without a doubt is one of the best looking AE86’s most of us have ever seen! Almost thirty years old and many people out there would freak out over something like this as opposed to a Ferrari or a Porsche…. Suddenly the economy cars of the last three decades become just as desired as that Ferrari, The car is actually the most recycled consumer product in the world..

So it’s amazing when you think about it, that cars like this are still around today. These cars are incredibly popular these days, more so than when they first came out of the factories, and it’s amazing to think that this popularity grows stronger and stronger with the help of new technologies like the interweb, and social media sites, Ireland easily has some of the best looking Japanese steel most people will never see, and as the show was known as Japfest it got quite a lot of people like myself down, the biggest car website in the world was there to cover the event, and in fairness the quality of cars was few and far between…

It’s incredible that out small little Island can bring some of the biggest names in the Drift scene, and their Vehicles… the fact that Ireland is so well known for its drifting, spoken about to such a high degree by some of the best Journalists in the Car scene, everyone should be giving themselves a massive pat on the back for being able to achieve that kind of level, as much as we have ranted about the car scene diminishing, we cannot deny that the drifting and motorsport aspect is more competitive than ever…. a balance would be amazing…

We have some of the coolest goodies! We really do, I’m so thankful that being a car enthusiast I have been surrounded by some of my dream cars for over fifteen years, being surrounded by the best people, being able to witness some of the best thing and most of all being able to build and run this website and try and show this stuff to the world, to let them know what we actually have going on aside from the bad weather and Guinness… That is the sole purpose of this website from day one….

Showcasing cars like this, Alan and his s14, a fresh build that turned a head or two up at Japfest. This car is great, it really is, you were probably expecting the usual “this car has these wheels, bla bla bla, and oh look at that sticker” the typical Juicebox coverage of an event, which I’m sure you would have preferred… but when I stood back and took a look at how things have turned out, it made me sad that there is not another 40 of Alan around the country, doing the same thing with an S14, The country has taken a hit financially and expectations and moods are low, and the scene is somewhat suffering and coming apart at the seams while the rest of the world moves on, but there is always hope, and I genuinely hope I can flood this website with awesome cars overs the next few years like this one above… Awesome cars and people who are pushing the Irish scene to new levels, striving for perfection and putting Ireland on the map, we have the cars, and definitely have the people,  Let’s see what happens.

Rant over…

sorry!

Let the hate begin!