Photo Diary Comeback Special

[Rezz]

I was trying to work out the first time I went drifting and find the pics you took when you were with Terry

anyway, if you come across them could you check the date for me please?

Anyway my car has since been crashed four times and lowered a lot (it had just passed Shakken in

that pic). The Guy from Hong Kong has crashed his car a couple of times and it now has widebody.

Also I need to get Asuka's phone number/email off you for errrr no particular reason

Yep we'll do mate. Dunno if Asuka would be keen though, her (then) boyfriend is an advertising exec with a Mercede$ and hou$e in $hukugawa...

[Rezz]

Laurence: That night me, Terry and you met up at Nanko was 4th August last year.

Showing good offset there mate, but the ride height... she's gotta come down

Laurence is in mid-drift here (if you look closely at the front wheels turned op-lock), I only had my little camera that night, so the flash was practically useless.

This probably a better shot, but still bad. Laurence did impressively well for his second time out in a new car in front of some tough onlookers (the local Japanese).

Terry Vahoumis doing what he does best... blowing smoke up ya G'day Terry!

Some random R32 drifter that I didn't see have a run that night.

[Rezz]

Next series of shots show the extent of the ultra urbanisation of the Kobe area, with a population of *only* 1.5 million people. The mountains and the sea - which characterize Kobe - are a kind of natural boundary... the only thing that stops the endless concrete and steel from devouring the entire region. If you think this is bad, Osaka is much MUCH worse, and then theres Tokyo/Yokohama...

Pics were taken at the top of Rokko Mountain.

If you're wondering why every so often they have groups of highrise apartments then lots of low rise, well where all the high rise buildings are grouped thats where a train station is... it's very convenient to live near a train station, then you can get practically anywhere without a car. I lived near a train station but had a car anyway... just like about 6 million other people in my neighbourhood.

[Rezz]

Terry's Gloria Gran Turismo not being thrashed...

A Japanese wrecking yard 'somewhere in Amagasaki'. Some people might remember an HPI article about this place about 5 - 6 years ago.

It's not such a big place area-wise, but the place was stacked to the brim with wrecked cars.

Shit cars start their slow painful death here, in the clutches of the evil 'GRAPPLOR'...

... Grapplor then flips the victim over and does some precision work to get the enigine out of the bay...

... then once the engine, exhaust, suspension subframes etc are thrown on the pile behind, Grapplor then deposits the limp and lifeless carcass into....

... 'Hell-ga', the car-eating, metal-cube-shitting compactor. hehehe

Here a pile of Hell-ga's shit she prepared earlier...

Time for a synchronized drink after all that crushing.

If you happen to be in Amagasaki, go to this place! Buggered if I can remember where it is exactly, but with 300 yen pints of lemon chu-hi you can't go wrong. I had about 5 of them and a whole stack of different yakitori and Terry picked up the tab... you're a legend mate

[Rezz]

Some pretty boring driving shots. All the raised expressways pretty much look like this, with the odd ferris wheel or skyscraper to break the continuous sea of apartment buildings and smog.

Here, theres an expressway deck below me, then a street, so we're already 8 stories up... then this overpass comes out of nowhere. I must say I was very impressed the first time I saw all these expressways rising above the buildings in Osaka/Kobe.

Crossing the Yodo river. See the bridge in the background? Just beyond that is where I was sitting at the end of year fireworks display on the previous page...

This is Nishinomiya, taken about 5 minutes before the pic above. My DJ mate Nao lives in one of those blue apartment blocks.

A bit blurry, but I think you can get more of a feeling of actually being there with a bit of blur and natural light, don't you think?

This is 'Ni-go-sen' (Route 2) between Kobe and Osaka, around the Nishinomiya area.

[silver gts-t]

wow that car interior is beautiful

[Wink]

Rezz how bad is traffic over there, especially going to the CBD in the mornings and going out in the afternoons?

[Rezz]

wow that car interior is beautiful

Thank you my good man, I see you pay attention to detail... I've got some shots of inside the glovebox if you're interested?

Wink: In the mornings (and especially when it rains) it's just crawling stop/start/stop for 15 - 20km in every direction. The best times to drive are at lunchtime or midnight. I'm not suprised 'Wangan' teams go crazy at night on the expressways doing speed runs between toll gates spending $150 in tolls in a night.

[Rezz]

Some more street level shots:

A typical suburban street in Ashiya. That orange apartment building is a 'Lion's Mansion', you can see them practically everywhere around Osaka/Kobe (don't know about Tokyo etc) and a particularly popular with the gaijin menace. Did I say menace? Sorry I meant *scurge*...

If you're wondering why that Stagea is parked the way it is, that house is about 70 years old and didn't have a parking space built in, so the city council allowed 1(!) car to park on the corner like that. Aparently that house burnt and was damaged pretty badly in the Hanshin earthquake back in '95.

An Umeda street scene. This was taken from the 4th floor school I used to teach at.

Another Umeda street scene.

The Hilton Hotel in Umeda.

SuperAutobacs 43 Doui. I spent alot of money on incidental car stuff here. Still got my point card too.

The other side of SuperAutobacs 43, where the C@rs showoff showroom is, they sell Tommy Kaira, ASL and Monocraft modified cars amongst others.

Speaking of Monocraft, here's their 'MM 1' Mazda Roadster. Heres the website: http://www.ab-carsshow.com/monocraft_mm1/kit.html

[CircusMonkey]

Good to see the photos coming back up.

So you`re heading back to Japan?

[Topaz]

Great shots mate, you don't see many Dolphin face Stageas in Aus....or do you?!

Is that a Tommy Kaira ZZ in the window of Super Autobacs?

These Japs drive around in some crazy-ass cars

[Rezz]

Good to see the photos coming back up.

So you`re heading back to Japan?

Hi Christian Yes mate, I'm heading back at the end of the year. This time I've got a proper plan, as opposed to being over there and just wandering around aimlessly. I'm planning on starting my own business there too. NO MORE TEACHING!

Topaz: Not sure what you mean by 'dolphin face' mate... can you elaborate? Yes, thats a Tommy ZZ in the window, alongside an ASL Garaiya.

[Wink]

Hey Rezz is the TK ZZ2 related to the ASL Guraiya?

[Rezz]

Hey Rezz is the TK ZZ2 related to the ASL Guraiya?

Yes, they're very similar in layout, not sure if the main frame of the chassis is shared though. They both run fairly stock late model NA SR20s too if I recall correctly.

[Topaz]

The Stag parked at the house with no driveway (sounds like a Slim Dusty song ), I thought was called Dolphin Face Stagea.......because it looks like a Dolphin ??

See a Dolphin

[type m 32]

Have got to say I am loving the photos/journal.

Immerse yourself into the pic... focus on the center, and let the frame encompass your entire field of vision... good. Now step into the pic... walk up to the FD and say to the driver how humid it is today and is he having a good time out on the track... wait for his response - in Japanese - but somehow you understand completely... now walk up to the ladies in the background. Introduce yourself and ask them if they'd like a drink from the kiosk... it's so humid they reply positively... now look around and breath in the curious mix of warm, thick mountain air and racing fuel fumes, all the time wiping sweat from your forehead...

Are you there yet?

This leaves me burning....You bastard!

...and yet I can't wait for some more pics/commentary from the next trip.

Keep us all posted

[Rezz]

type m 32: I'm glad you like the thread cheers

Topaz: You're a crack up mate... put the bong down haha

On with the pics...

Kei truck with 'Lambo doors'... actually it *does* look like a Lambo now that I think of it

R34 GT-T in the carpark at Intex Osaka.

Vented bonnet? Check. Wider track? Check. Body rigidity improved 500 percent? Check. Front and rear downforce at Touring car levels? Check... This was some guys weekend track car. You can't fathom the millions upon millions of yen that guys spend on their 'hobby' until you actually get out to an event like this one.

Heres the car that belongs to that sexy black headlight on the previous page...

These next 3 shots are some of my absolute best for various reasons:

Feast Power FD3S with my wheels! Yes these exact same offset, diameter and width Racing Hart CP-S10s are going on my S13 Silvia.

I just like this one because of the colours, and the driver gave me the thumbs up for... I dunno.

Little kid out of nowhere! When I took this pic, I had no idea the kid was there... when I got home and loaded all the pics onto my PC, there he was... showing off his belly too! Hahaha it made the pic ten times better IMO with him in the background.

[Topaz]

I dunno, I must have heard that they were called Dolphin Face Stags somewhere

[Rezz]

Heres the Nagisa Auto BNR34 GT-R again for a closer look:

This shot could've been better but I mistakenly took it with 1600 ISO.

Theres that Auto Select strut brace again. Hardcore circuit racing spec

No mucking around here either...

You can see clearly the increased track at this angle. An awesome circuit BNR34 just sitting there, it was the fastest on the day too around Central Circuit. The only real competition came from this car...

The Stillway Evo 7

Set up like a front wheel drive, the front was soft with the rear wheels really stiff so that it would scrape it's nose under brakes and lift the inside rear under hard cornering and braking. They really are an awesome circuit car (the late model Evos) and I would not say no to one if I came across one at the right price.

That ARC radiator is worth $$$$. Not sure how much boost it was making, but power was up around 550hp.

Those rear doors are 100% FRP... including the painted windows.

[Rezz]

Heres my good friend Akihiro standing next to the J's Racing S2000 circuit car. If it wasn't for Akihiro, I would've benn thrown out of the venue because (little did we know) this was a closed session for Option Magazine and their crew doing features on some of Kansai's finest garages: Nagisa, Auto Select, J's Racing, Stillway and Trial.

I think the only original parts are the tail lights...

Mitsubishi GTOs are a rare sight in Japan nowadays, and even rarer to see them tuned as much as this one.

V35 Skylines *can* look good with the right body kit and wheels.

I'm sure this Civic put in decent times, but when it was out on the track at the same time as the Nagisa GT-R and the Trial/Stillway Evo's, it just couldn't keep up... just made alot of noise.

LOL

OMG! OMG! OMG! Hay-chi Row-kewz!!!! Seriously, I like them for what they are (small, lightweight RWD cars) but the 'legendary' status far exceeds it's worth. Akihiro has one so I have to be careful... haha. These 2 'panda' AE86's were there on the day going for their club racing licence. Nice number plates