So its a new year, and weve taken a little sort of break from the website, mainly because life got a little hectic. What better way to start the new year with a bit of drift action. We trucked down towards Watergrass hill for the driftfest which has been gaining some serious steam each time this event. It makes for an exciting watch as pretty much any type of rear wheel drive car can be seen tearing it up with a driver of any skill level.
It’s no secret that Irelands economy is down the tube, day in day out we hear a new story of something bad, someone losing a job someone forced to sell a car. The truth is, the “glory days” of what will be remembered as that chapter in the Irish car world where the port of Dublin was flooded with a car culture from the other side of the planet. All these “JDM” cars started pouring onto Irish soil, snatched up from the auctions in Japan and shipped the emerald isle. This happened for a good solid 8 years, there had always been the odd few Japanese cars which made it over before, but the major car rush which was witnessed by everyone was truly something special. Ireland immersed itself in the culture, rims, bodykits, seats, drifting, all these goodies which suddenly ended up being everywhere, suddenly Japanese cars were everywhere, it’s the biggest part of the car world in Ireland and has been since they started coming across the seas in the masses back at the turn of the millennium.
It doesn’t get more timeless then this, a white EK9 sitting on Desmond Regamaster EVOs. Show me this car in another 10 years and regardless of what trends are around then I’m sure it will retain the same appeal.
I recently had the pleasure of checking out number 189. I’m sure many of you are well acquainted with the Tommi Mäkinen EVO 6 or 6.5 as its often referred to. The car is named after the Finnish World rally driver after he took four driver championships in a row, Its always been a cool thing when a large car company comes out with a model like this with that extra special feeling of exclusivity creating a collectors item almost isntantly.
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The life not too many people understand or get outside of the car world.
So last sunday brought another Honda meet up in Portlaoise in the carpark at Midway court, the good thing about Midway court is it has a subway and is very central for everyone from all different counties to make the trip. I know your wondering about the picture above also, we managed to get stuck in a High nellie world record on the way up, which was extremely amusing to say the least.I really had no idea there was that many High nellie’s left not to mention useable! I’m sure they bet the record as there really wouldnt be any comparison!
This Pheonix Yellow 98 Spec DC2 has been around for a few years now, a daily driven car which has been kept more or less standard. Many of you will know just how incredibly rare a Genuine Yellow DC2 is, and more of you will also know just how rare the yellow Recaro’s from factory in this yellow beauty are. The entire car has remained intact since 1999.
If your pondering the internet bored this evening you should sit down grab some food and enjoy this classic snippet of early Japanese street racing. Megalopolis Expressway Trial or Shuto Kousoku is a series of films about illegal street racing on the Shuto Expressway in Japan released between 1988 and 1996.
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Its hard to think that another year of Prodrift has passed us so quickly. To be fair we were off to a fantastic start with Ennis weather wise. The typical Irish early good weather which results in a summer of rain as punishment, this didnt stop competition and even though Juicebox didnt make it to two of the events the finale in Mondello more than made up for it.
What I love about Japfest is the amount of racing and activities that are on throughout the day as well as the show thats inside the paddock. It can be a somewhat overhwleming task to cover everything as you have time attack, Prodrift, drag racing and track time on all at the same time. There’s something for everyone.
So it has to be openly said this was one of the best events the country had seen in a long time. The most important part was the amount of effort people put in the make it to the show.The recession was winning the battle and probably still is in many minds when it comes to cars. Things were looking very gloomy but I have to admit, heatwave and then Japfest brought a very positive vibe back into the scene.
It has to be said that Japfest 2011 was such a good day, not because team need for speed came to town… which don’t get me wrong was a good part of it too, the amount of people and cars that showed up was really something. It just goes to show that the scene is still holding it down regardless of this economic bullshit. Everyone should give themselves a pat on the back for effort. The car park usually has just as much interesting machines as the show your attending, that’s why here at Juicebox we love lurking the car park to see what the people are driving.
So it has to be said Heatwave 2011 actually turned out a lot better then we had expected. Its no secret that Ireland is filled with nice cars. Properly built clean cars exist and many times over the years going to shows these cars would never be on show, in fact most of the time it would be the exact opposite, with only a handful of cars on display which would make you look twice. Not taking away from the work of some people but the car scene has definitely changed and it was only a matter of time until the shoes would reflect this. It was certainly a different line up of cars compared to lets say 2005!
The Celica never get the love it deserved over the years, besides the st205 they scrub up very nicely like this example here. Possibly one of the nicest t200 series Celica’s ever? Maybe….