Getting Lucky at Fuji Speedway
After a long night of drifting and about two hours of sleep, all of our phones made a crazy sound simultaneously, and we freaked out. Luckily it was an Earthquake warning, just like the ones Alexi told us about, warning of an earthquake in the area.
Strangely, this message overrode all three of our phones with the exact text simultaneously. Without panicking any further, I translated the news, and it said it was an earthquake evacuation drill, scary stuff—what a way to wake up.
Heading down the mountain, the excitement every time you spot something extraordinary in the wild. We stopped for a drink and spotted A Silvias and a DB8 Integra up on the hill. Although the car culture has been shrinking over the last decade, it is still quite evident in many places, making no sense considering how many cars the rest of the world has poached from Japan at that time.
The Japanese scenery is phenomenal. Even on a casual drive down from the mountain we had slept on, there was eye candy everywhere, epic winding roads ideal for a blast in a car or on a bike, perfect rivers and lakes. I’d love to visit again and explore the gorgeous countryside views.
Vending machines everywhere…
How cool is this little Every van?
The vending machine supply in Japan is like nothing else. Anywhere you go, there’s a vending machine not too far away fully stocked with ice-cold drinks. It one of the fascinating parts of any journey, spotting them in the most obscure places. The benefits of pulling in for a drink can usually reveal another area of interest, like that mini restoration shop buried in the hillside at Fuji mountain!
This was an unexpected sight.
The scenery is never-ending. That alone would satisfy any traveller on a journey.
You are treated to epic scenes like this at convenience stores.
Followed by this Hummer touring the mountain roads around Fuji.
This day was supposed to be another break as we had overdone ourselves the day previous, with arguably the most drifting anyone could squeeze into 24 hours. But somehow, we found ourselves heading towards Fujo Speedway for a look. We couldn’t resist, after all, we were there for a car holiday.
In Japan, it seems that there’s always something car related going on at a race track, the country is obsessed with the automobile, and it’s incredibly evident as we made our way up the east coast. We found ourselves at what seemed like just another day at Fuji.
The car park was just as fascinating.
It turns out these crazy looking race cars, I had never seen or heard of these before. Known as Kuruma race cars, they were custom made for a race series called the Inter Proto Series. It’s worth checking it out if you are into that sort of thing. They were a fascinating machine I wish we got a closer look at them.
This Top Fuel built GT 86 was hitting the spot.
A first for everything, check that Red Bull vending machine.
This was hands down one of the greatest examples of an E46 M3 we have ever seen.
This Chuki 180 was hiding in the pits, it looks like it rolled out of 1997.
Ai from Car Factory Ai, where they store Tuschiyas 86 you’ve seen in previous episodes; she was racing that day in her open-top race car, it seemed like a round of the series was being held here, along with some prototype race cars and a one-make Ferrari race!
Oh man this thing excited us, I had never seen a 2000GT in real so this was a proper treat for the eyes.
The owner had it out on track for a good portion of the day, it was nice to see it getting used.
So much for a day off from cars, we were surrounded by epic stuff without even trying too hard.
Big happy moments here!
We stumbled into what appeared to be a small car show, with a few old guys with various rare Toyota 2000gts, an IMSA 300zx, and some Liberty Walk Skylines. This sort of event would be a big deal anywhere else globally, but it was just another day on the calendar at Fuji.
This little fit with its dusty TE37’s and yellow headlights caught out eyes.
Along with this little Advan colourway bike.
It went well with the Advan Race truck we found at the back of the pits.
The SW20 is a car we didn’t see too often on our journey. This was a great example, I loved the combination of Type-C’s and Advan RG’s.
A new age Vitz on Desmond Regamasters.
There was non stop action all day, it was hard to keep up.
This BNR32 was perfection. The Silver TE37’s, the tow hook, I bet this car sees the track pretty often.
Car Factory AI!
Fuji is a colossal complex, it’s hard to get a grasp on the size of the place until you actually start walking around.
What a backdrop…
Just as we were leaving we were stopped dead in our tracks by a few cars in the car park.
This AP1 s2000 was a wild-looking machine.
The C-West front bumper and combination of canards and gunmetal to match was a nice looking example.
We really liked the look of this car, carbon and gunmetal is the perfect match.
A sign of the future… I actually quite like the look of this Leaf, it would make for a somewhat interesting daily commuter.
Although if I had the choice id be more inclined to drive something like this circuit focused Ek9.
I love the character a lot of cars you encounter have in Japan, they aren’t necessarily obsessed with having a pristine example of various chassis and I really love that about the culture. The somewhat used look can be just as cool as having something in pristine condition.
This was brand new at the time, and straight onto a set of TE37’s, is there a chassis this wheel doesn’t suit?
An Isuzu 117 Coupe, I had never seen one of these in the flesh. Sitting pretty on Hayashi streets this was a gorgeous example.
DDC lips on a gunmetal JZA80, with a combination of Veilside and OEM aero.
We had to park the Alphard under the big Potenza tyre bridge for the classic photo, Fuji was another place on the hit list, and even though we hadn’t intended on seeing car stuff, we were delighted we did.
Front row seats to a free Ferrari race, how lucky…
It’s not often you see a grip look on the JZX100 Chaser, this was such a cool looking example.
When we left Fuji, some of the older guys from the track headed home in their Toyota S800 coupes. That’s what I love about Japan; regardless of the age, the automobile is adored and enjoyed, and it’s very inspiring to see people still at it over there late into their years, bringing them to track days, meeting up and enjoying the social aspect of this hobby.
