We take the Crusty Accord CH1 Type R to a Hiro Racing Honda Track day and see if it can survive the punishment.
A few photos from our little night drive in the summer of 2021; right after all the misery of covid had lifted, we decided to get together for a meet-up and appreciate the joy these rusty Japanese cars bring. A route was mapped to drive for some spirited driving, but we got some food beforehand. Far too many of our vehicles are sitting in sheds these days, never getting the use they deserve, so it was great to get them out for a blast. Finally, everyone went home smiling, reminding us why we got into these things in the first place. In Ireland, as the years progress, you tend to see fewer and fewer of these cars on the road; they live their lives in the shed as our climate isn’t the best for cheap steel Japanese machines.
A couple of Epic S2000s reside in the town I work in every day, so I decided to hook up with them to make a video and shed some light on a lesser-loved chassis.
If my younger self could see me now! That young freckly fucker obsessing over Gran Turismo 2, sitting in his room listening to that smooth jazz menu music, looking at cars he had never heard of in the used car garage. Here I am, many years later, still chasing the dream, still into the same stuff I was back then! I think my younger self would be buzzing to see the space I have in the shed with sound friends, a few rusty Japanese shit heaps, a few bikes, skateboards and silly bits pushing on into my 30s. It’s not much, but I try not to take it for granted, best to enjoy the ride. This night made me incredibly happy.
Utsunomiya is roughly halfway between the greater Tokyo area and Fukushima, so it was an ideal spot to park up for the night. The next day we had some time to kill, so we decided to check out the Honda Museum as it wasn’t too far from where we stayed.
I’m not going to say a lot here, the images speak for themselves, here are the photos to accompany the Honda day from 2019 when we had the EK4 out on the track. It’s hard to put into words just how fun these noisy little Hondas are until you’ve driven one, and when you drive a proper sorted one the track on the limit, it only amplifies the pleasure in these Econo small cars. You can punish them, and they keep coming back for more!
The noise makes you feel like you are doing ten times the speed, the oversteer, the bang of Vtec lad! Honda knew what they were doing with the first twenty years of simplistic Vtec machines; anyways, ill leave it here. Hope you enjoy these pics.
– Neil
I didn’t want to miss this event. Last year Flip made the drive up and any of the photos I had seen from the day were amazing. The days of seeing Hondas out in the open have quickly disappeared. It seems the bad image the Honda had just over four years ago has vanished.
Time has become quiet precious over the last few years, coming home from nine to ten hours a day of commuting and work and then finding the enthusiasm for sitting down to edit photographs and articles for this site has certainly been a challenge, I have to sacrifice a few things, but I really believe its worthwhile.
The Irish car shed doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, Sheds are the backbone of our car scene, the anchors to every good build.
What started out as a bit of a Joke on the Internet the other day ended up luring us out on a freezing Friday night standing around in the dark with friends. We were almost excited at the fact this “Cruise” was going down.
“Cruises” have been a part of car culture for as long as I can remember, in all shapes and sizes they have always happened. Its a different kind of nightlife.
Being away for a few years I really didn’t know what top expect at Japfest this year, if you were following the nonsense on the Instagram story, we went a little over board but it was with no regrets. Japfest an end of year calendar for most of the stuff we are into and most of the cars either come off of the road or go into hibernation for the winter.
An encounter with some good metal.
Two Japanese Icons side by side in perfect guise.