I’m pretty excited that some how I can finally write about a public event we put together. Juicebox has been going for about four years now and well it has been an absolute pleasure being able to capture the car scene and chuck it up here on the website. We had toyed with the idea of putting together something like this for a long time, possibly holding a show, or doing another BBQ, the main fear was that no one would turn up, or if something did it would be a disaster.
Ive always been a huge fan of the Original Miata/mx5 or roadster as it was known in Japan. With such a subtle collection of modifications they can become such an amazing little car to both drive and look at. I got an email a couple of months back about one that was being put together, due to the rise in popularity of these cars (which is always a good thing) I was intrigued as to what pictures lay inside the message.
You just can’t get enough of a good looking 180sx. I don’t care what anyone says but when there is a perfectly styled example in front of your eyes it brings the same amount of excitement as anything else. Over the years Ireland has robbed its fair share of these from Japan, many have been drifted, and others have been butchered, others have been stored away and others have been done like this. The ones which have been styled this good are always a treat.
It’s always nice to get emails about possible features, especially something along the lines of this Subtle Eunos Roadster and other less played with chassis in this country. Once I had seen a few pictures of this coming together over at Team Chihuahua I knew we needed to organise a shoot.
Ah, another AE86 track day. Anyone who follows this blog will know how much we enjoy this chassis. Anytime there is a track day for the 86 movement it always brings a very interesting selection of cars.
Ireland has to have one of the most solid loves for the AE86 in the world. We literally stole thousands of them from Japan. On top of buying these out of Japan we have all the goodies and people around the country manage to build some incredible examples time and time again. No other movement inside the car scene seems to be as good.
Stephens Turbo work in Progress Pride and Joy…. watch this space, this car is only going to get better….
For Ireland, a car like this is somewhat ahead of its time… It’s almost a vision of what someone will do in twenty years from now, when there won’t be a whole amount of these Nissans on the road… Everything about this car is not the ordinary guise for an s14 Silvia… The car is not covered in cable ties, doesn’t have ropey panels and isn’t what you would call a drift slag, which by all means is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but what is awesome about this car is how it was planned out and built, everything is super subtle and looks almost factory.
Some of the stuff over the last two decades to come out of Japan has left far more of an impact than others. For instance the s13 itself has had such a powerful following pretty much anywhere around the globe that people could get their hands on one. I’ve always been a massive fan of the late 90’s early 00’s drift style, personally I felt that drift car style peaked around this era.. big wheels, over fenders and the perfect stance, if you don’t believe me Google the BN s13 or the 326 power FC that Haraguchi drove or even the works 9 auto salon 13, or even take a look at any of the old D1 option videos on you tube from the turn of the millennium The BN Defend kit was one of those ideas that to quite a few, didn’t sound good on paper, but somehow it ended up being easily one of the best wide body kits for any of the Drift super star cars we know today.
Ah, where to begin…. if you didn’t know this by know, Ireland has a very very impressive AE86 following, when the flood gates from Japan opened back around 00, we pretty much imported any type of AE86 we could get our hands on and this continued for about eight years, right up until the country’s economy shat itself. Any proper day like the one that is somewhat annually held at Mondello brings some of the most awesome pieces of Japanese steel from around the country and this was as good as it gets.
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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Whilst browsing some Japanese Blogs I cam across this rather unusual sight. I’m aware that Japan has a few french and Italian cars but I have never come across a completely Japanese looking Clio. What I mean by this is a white car wearing white what looks to be SSR type C’s with a beefy looking track tire. The car has an mean but OEM look and has been stripped with a full cage. Such an unexpected find! Oh and its LHD for some reason.
For anyone who is staring at the screen and wondering what the hell is going on, allow me to explain. This is a 2002 Toyota bB. The car is based on the Yaris/Vitz chassis and was targeted at the younger generation in their early to late 20’s. These cars are hugely popular in Japan as the bB and in the US where it went under the name of the Scion xB. For anyone who has wondered why these are so insanely popular, we’ve also asked the same question every time one appears on the internet. In America where these little crazy box shaped Toyota’s have a huge following, people could easily pour thousands of dollars into an xB/bB to create their perfect vision.