I’ll cut straight to the chase: car shows in the UK are boring. Sure, there’s usually a decent amount of cool cars to look at but very rarely do you see anything truly groundbreaking, jaw-dropping and mind-blowing. Everything is on the safe side; everything is middle of the road and very rarely is anything truly adventurous in terms of overall creative vision. It was with some trepidation then that I set foot on the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka in order to check out the infamous Osaka Auto Messe show the following day, the pessimist inside me fearing the worst. In hindsight, I needn’t of worried.
After hopping off the monorail and walking through the turnstiles to the exhibition venue that played host to the show, the standard was quickly set by the sight of a selection of JGTC cars on display.
However, as undoubtedly awesome as these cars are, they still don’t really do it for me. They’re dedicated motorsport vehicles, and I was here for the utterly outrageous road-going (or at least street-influenced) creations.
First up was the D.A.D stand, a company whose showroom myself and Jon had accidentally stumbled upon the day before in the backstreets of Osaka.
The company won’t need much introduction to most JDM fans – their outrageously extravagant stylings being applied to everything from a pair of SL Mercedes (one of which is shown above) to all manner of kei cars and anything else in between.
Take note, rest of the world: GT86/BRZs look fantastic with Lambo doors.
It quickly became apparent that the kei car and MPV scenes are absolutely huge, demonstrated perfectly by the masses of companies displaying people carriers like the ones below in the first few halls of the show.
Some were relatively subtle, others were a tad more extreme. And then there were examples like this:
I can’t begin to imagine the amount of hours that must have gone into making the headlights and taillights but, suffice to say, they looked suitably mental.
The selection of VIP saloons was equally wild, in many cases some cars left me wondering what models they left their respective factories as.
There was no mistaking this JZX100 Chaser however and I loved absolutely everything about it. To some the camber may be a tad over the top but, in comparison to the hundreds of other VIP saloons on display, the car as a whole was on the more conservative side of things.
This Aristo being a prime example of the wilder VIP saloons in attendance: white leather re-trim, a massive sound system, outrageous wheel fitment and Time Attack-esque aero additions being some of the headline features.
Moving outside of the first exhibition halls to catch some fresh air and there was a momentary distraction from VIP stylings in the form of the D-MAX 2JZ powered S15 that D1SL legend Masashi Yokoi will be driving in Formula Drift Japan this year. The car was on display to promote the upcoming Motor Games event.
Staying on the theme of competition cars and this Subaru BRZ was certainly kitted out to dominate the likes of Tsukuba circuit.
Moving swiftly back to VIP style and this Aristo was another prime example of current VIP trends, with the German ‘plates being a somewhat unique addition in Japan in comparison to their played out nature in the UK VW scene.
By far and away, one of my favourite VIP cars at the show. Black cars and gold centred VS-XXs is always a combination for guaranteed success.
Panasport G7s: one of the most simplistic yet beautiful wheel designs to come out of the motherland in the last few decades.
As if this Nissan President wasn’t already balling hard enough…
…the BBS LMs sat on the rear passenger bench certainly hammered the point home.
This Toyota Crown Athlete was definitely another one of my favourites. The required VIP car ride height, wheel fitment and camber settings were all present and correct but it was the roll cage, Volk TE37s and 1JZ engine conversion that made this particular Crown (which is more commonly seen in Police livery around Japan) stand out without resorting to outrageous colours, LED lights or other attention-grabbing modifications.
This Celsior was beautifully simple, packing plenty of subtle bodywork mods and a great colour choice. It’s all in the details.
The second half of my Auto Messe coverage will showcase some of the more drift, time attack and all out horsepower focused cars that were on display – stay tuned.
