Growing up, I was consumed by almost every avenue of modified automotive media prior to the digital social media boom. Magazines, VHS, DVD, you name it. And it was through this immersive binge of modified Japanese motoring goodness where I learnt a bunch of trivial things. Each year, as part of the Tokyo Auto Salon coverage that almost all of these media publications would cover, a particular segment would always receive a spotlight. That is, the car park of Tokyo Auto Salon, or rather, the car park used by attendees at the Makuhari Messe whilst visiting TAS.
I had failed to give a mention to our favourite aftermarket seating and OE companies in the previous TAS blog posts. So, before we make a beeline to the car park, we’ll quickly head back inside the Makuhari Messe for a whistle stop tour to see what was on display at Bride (and their premium brand, Edrib), Recaro (who had a captivating movie theatre themed display), Sparco and Momo.
Ok, back to the car park. I have to emphasise at this point that as soon as I arrived at the bottom of the covered but element exposing escalator, I lost connection to all of the receptors on my face. The ambient temperature was around 3 degrees Celsius, there was a gust of clothes-slicing wind every few seconds and the rain-equipped cumulus clouds were spitting on me as some kind of bravery test. Despite this, I knew I had to perform my rendition of the TAS car park tour.
Like a moth to a bright light, I was instantaneously drawn to anything that had a white body and red Honda badge. As a devoted Honda lover, it was exciting to witness in the flesh, the inspiring performance models that we never received in Australia. The spanking new FK2 Civic Type R below had already received the obligatory Bride seat and Takata harness treatment.
Spotted a questionable Han and Orido-san doppelganger.
The variety in the Makuhari Messe car park was pleasing to observe. USDM style, Itasha, drift, hard-tuned as well as Japan-only weird and wacky were all represented. This is the beauty of the Japanese non-discriminating car culture. Everything and anything is welcomed.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse was an influencing ride during the US tuner-car culture of the 90s. Surprisingly, the stock looking, third-generation USDM left-hand drive Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder above was my pick of the car park. The excitement and curiosity running through my head at the time is probably echoed when someone spots a Skyline GT-R in North America (we are spoilt in Australia, with the GT-R a regular sight on our roads). After taking a snap of the Eclipse and despite the uncovered kilometres of car-park goodness lying ahead, my body surrendered to the harsh climate and I retreated indoors to one of the warming halls that made up the enormous Makuhari Messe convention centre.
I hope you have enjoyed Tokyo Auto Salon 2017 through the eyes of Skibeemo. I got up to a bunch of other car-related activities during my time in Japan so stay tuned as we continue to sail on the Skibeemo Does Japan series.
