Japan in a Van – Abandoned AE86’s and Impulse Garage
After drooling at Endless, we made our way to Impulse. These shops are in the Hyogo area and about a twenty-minute drive from each other.
As we mentioned in the video, taking the back roads is the most fun. You never know what’s hiding down a side street. This AE86 pair was a pleasant surprise; both looked like they hadn’t moved in quite some time, and it stopped us in our tracks. I guess this stuff is still out there to find!
This pair of 86’s caught us off guard.
Levin 2 door and 3 doors Trueno, the perfect combo.
They looked to be sitting there for quite some time.
It makes you wonder just how much of this stuff is still out there!
Tight squeeze!
Even just driving through the Japanese streets, we couldn’t get enough of the backdrop, a pleasant feeling of freedom as you buzz along in your van, taking in the sights and sounds.
We had a close call a few times like this bridge on the way past Endless, with the van being so high and relatively wide. I’m not sure we would have made it anything more significant; we made our way through bamboo forests, trying to navigate tiny single-lane roads; it made for some hilarious moments but the best of fun.
Slammed Kei trucks, overhead powerlines, cool green awnings!
Look at that chrome front end!
A Tercel saloon! That’s got to be rare these days in Japan.
I have no words for this…
That shell was sitting outside Impulse the last time we visited.
An Alphard towing their Group N1 car! Pretty cool.
We eventually made it to Impulse; they build some of the most prestigious AE86’s in japan, famous for their carbon roofs, doors and replacement panels; the owners are very welcoming. Unfortunately, we caught them at the wrong time as they were packing up for the AE86 festival, which was taking place the next day, so we didn’t hold them up for too long.
Our brief time at Impulse consumed this time around by video footage. I do apologise for the minimal number of shots from this place. I hope the footage made up for it. We did a more thorough feature on our original trip; the photos are somewhere on the site for those keen to know more.
The novelty of UP Garages continued. We found another one in Kobe, so we popped in for a quick look; it’s pretty hard to pass up an opportunity as you never know what’s inside.
Even outside every Up Garage, the car parks usually have an attractive selection of machines. It seemed like we were never going to make it to Osaka! So many distractions, but it didn’t matter. We were back in japan and very excited to see pretty much anything.
This caught our eye straight away.
Then this…
This CL accord was pretty damn cool too, they seldom mess things up over ther.
I should have bought this wing. Every time I see this photo it reminds me.
These were familiar roads and sights as we worked our way into Osaka from Kobe. The infrastructure is phenomenal; Osaka is a massive city with an enormous amount of traffic on the move, it’s slightly intimidating at first.
Overhweming infrastructure.
Bridges over bridges! The complete opposite to anything we have here in Ireland. The best part was it was moving seamlessly. Even the roads alone are worth driving on if you get the chance to get out to Japan; there is always something to take in.
I’ll leave it here for now; next up is our trip to Global…