The second day of the trip was dedicated to the Auto Salon. We had to wake up very early and drove about an hour or so to get to the convention center where it was being held.
I was so excited when I received my ticket. You can't even imagine.
We were lucky to attend the tour with the DSPORT magazine crew. We had an early entrance with the press and got to check out the Auto Salon before anyone else!
There was so much to see! And to believe that this was only 1 out of 4 halls!
As expected, the ZN6/ZC6 (GT86/86/FRS/BRZ) was the main star of the show. I heard afterwards that there were almost 100 different examples of the lightweight sports coupe! I spotted these three the moment I walked in.
Right next to the 86s' was this clean example of another Boxer powered sports car: the Impreza.
This tastefully done 180SX is a great example of Japanese street drifting cars.
From the fully URAS body kit to the bronze TE37V's, this 180 has got everything down.
Next to the 180SX was this "DUB" S13 Silvia.
An awesome example of the CR-Z sitting on BBS wheels!
I noticed that vans are quite the big thing here in Japan.
This clean JDM-spec Odyssey is something I wish we had back in the states. I'd love to one day build a tuner van!
A very evil looking Toyota van.
This slammed police car was a very interesting sight.
Just look at that crazy camber!
Bee-Dragon's VIP Cima and Celsior
Such an elegant yet aggressive look!
A slightly aero'd Impreza STi by Albero
Chop-topped Aristo; something you won't see everyday.
DAMD's LFA styled aero for the 86!
It's nice to finally see this kit for once, rather than that one tiny prototype picture that would always show up on Google images.
The triple exhaust, a must for that baby LFA look.
Full aero AND turbo on a van? Japan never fails to amaze me!
Heart wheels. I wonder if these are one-off or actually production models...
Toyota's first supercar, the 2000GT, sporting an all electric powerplant.
The Voltex stand and it's many thousand plus dollar wings and other aerodynamic accessories!
The heart of the Voltex time attack CT9A EVO
The real deal.
Insane amounts of aero...I wonder how fast this goes around Tsukuba?
Wedsport's carbon wrapped 86 time attack car.
Bold is the right choice for this 86. With it's scissor doors, widebody kit, large wheels and air suspension, this thing received tons of attention at the show!
Aimgain Wheel's matte white IS-C sitting low thanks to it's air suspension system.
This matte Audi TT seemed out of place in the VIP section..
Talk about class! This Hiace was part of many with a completely decked out interior...
...with some being much more extreme than others.
From miniature party buses...
..to luxurious cruisers, the Toyota Hiace is a platform with tons of capabilities.
Dumped Kei truck!
A small example of the many accessories you can get for your VIP ride.
The Toyota/Gazoo Racing booth had 6 examples of customized 86's. The other two will be shown later on in my blog, since I took the pictures of those two at a later time. The first car was the Toyota concept 86. It had many retro styling cues akin to the 2000GT of yesteryear.
The next ZN6 was the TOM's 86. This one caught my attention right away with it's aggressive aerodynamics and it's massive Mazda3 like grin.
The TRD 86 obviously took it's looks from the N2 AE86 race cars from the 80's. This car is supposedly the car TRD will be using to test it's future 86 performance parts!
The last one (for now) was the Modellista 86. Very modern and subtly aggressive aero makes this rendition of the 86 stand out.
What better place to put a GT5 rig than in a Hiace?!
Probably one of the coolest, if not the coolest HIACEs at the show. This one is a drift car!
Hiding in the corner was this Vitz Turbo (Yaris for us Americans) concept!
I actually really liked this car! I wouldn't mind having one; they're probably a blast to drive, much like the Civics from the 90s, I'm assuming.
One of the newest Hondas, the N-Box here is fitted with the sporty Modulo body kit.
Also released this year along with the N-Box, is the N-One! A tribute to the old Honda N360, this new Kei car is equipped with Mugen parts as far as the eye can see and draped in retro Mugen race livery.
Being in the Honda booth, how could I skip out on the HSV-010 SuperGT car? Sadly, they positioned it to where it was difficult to get good shots.
MUGEN CRV! I was actually pretty stoked to see this particular model, seeing as my mom has one back home.
I personally feel it'd be pretty awesome to do this to my mom's car.
Even though the S2000 went out of production a few years ago, they still have a large fanbase here in Japan.
This Modulo conversion definitely shows that there is still a huge aftermarket for the S2000
The Mugen CRZ RZ
I find that this is how the car should look stock. The front fascia is so aggressive!
Hiding out in a corner was this Falken AE86 notchback!
Sweet looking 3-series wagon, something we should have stateside.
Another Kei truck, this time with more of a bosozoku styling. Gotta love that oil cooler.
This bright orange Axela (Mazda3) was noticeable from very far away.
I was really liking the lines on this VIP Toyota Crown.
This AVEST 86 was my personal favorite 86 of the show. The unique aero flows well with the natural lines of the car, but is still more than enough to stand out.
Next to the AVEST 86 was this turbocharged D1GP 86 with it's large front mount intercooler and aggressive stance.
This Benz was covered virtually everywhere in sparkly rhinestones.
I'll end today's post with this unique little thing sporting TE37's all around!
