Tokyo Auto Salon 2009 Part 2

A new for 2009 feature was Import Auto Salon, for import cars, but mainly German and American

'Ed if you could have ONE car tomorrow what would it be?' Ive only 1 answer - BMW M5!

The new Dodge Challenger, even though this 1 had air suspension it was nice
A 1960's Chevy Camaro, with a blown V8, very tidy

A white Maybach Limo, girls in long white dresses, whats not to like

Very cool anime graphics on this Super GT BMW Z4

Not sure if bolt on arches work on the Golf GTi

Back to the Auto Salon....

Top Secret had NOTHING of note, same cars as last year with the exception of a Toyota Celsior, same parts as everyone else, maybe the pinch is starting to affect them. The V12 Supra still attracts the crowds though, even though they failed to crack the 400km/h barrier when the car was shipped to Nardo in Italy last year

Yet another D1GP S15

And another R35, this 1 is from Hasemi Sport, but with nice subtle mods
unlike the awful Branew bodykit design


The Looking Mazda RX-7 , very cool!

Classic Toyota 2000GT - with a RB26, actually it is a 240Z based replica

One of the better of the current crop of different D1 cars,Masayoshi Tokitas Goodyear/Bee*R Toyota Crown, packing a 2JZ transplant for over 650bhp

Amuse R35, one of the most powerful in Japan with over 650 bhp

Alongside some of the other most powerful R35's in Japan

VeilSide

VeilSide - the name says it all and yes they did exist before Fast and Furious and I had heard of them before then!! For my 2nd trip to Japan it was a must that we went to see them, so after a long train journey and some crap directions, myself and Chris found ourselves deep in Ibaraki prefecture in suburban Tokyo, not far from Tsukuba circuit when suddenly I saw a big building with VeilSide written on the side.....

This was it - one of the the best known of all Japanese tuning companies, as famous for their styling as their drag racing/top speed exploits

Despite being in Japan the weather had followed us from Ireland and it was pouring rain outside,so time to take a look inside

Yes - Its really VeilSide!!! And Im here - lets go inside!!

Its a Fortune kitted RX7 and Drift Kings 350z from Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.......
With 2 more alongside.... the orange 1 unsurprisingly is 1 of the cars used in the film (and autographed by Sam Hubinette)


Glad I brought my tripod.......



1 of the cars I had wanted to see,their 1300bhp drag Supra,below is a video of it in action (an idea I borrowed from VeilSides showroom,where loads of tv screens show similar footage of their cars in action). We will come back to the man with the big grin on his face at the end of the video later.




And the car that almost had me drooling,Drag R-1 their R32 GTR drag car with over 1300bhp which still holds the world 0-300km/h record (see below) with a time of 13.72 seconds and the 4wd 1/4 mile world record on street tyres with 8.612 @ 172.5 mph....

The R32 Evolution R-III,860bhp and 1 of the fastest Skylines in Japan in the early 90's. This car won VeilSide their 1st Tokyo Auto Salon trophies. The front looks the same as your 'average' R32 GTR,but the rear end of it blew me away aswell as the wide arches,very radical and only VeilSide could do something like this well!

Chris debates purchasing some VeilSide products. Notice how wide the arches are on the Combat Supra behind him!

And finally,the creative genius that is Mr Hirano Yokomaku,President of VeilSide, and easily 1 of the most influential people in the modifying world. He designs every VeilSide kit himself and the modifying world would be a much less exciting place wihout his work. He also gave his name to the company, Veil meaning ‘Maku’ and Side meaning ‘Yoko’

Thanks to Hirano Yokomaku for being an excellent host and his contributions to the world that I love, Yoko Koyanagi for her hospitality and Chris Gray for the extra photography and his logistics help!!