2010 Tokyo Auto Salon: Stage One

It has been an exhausting event for retailers, producers, consumers and everyone else in between. Rightly so too because this year marked a distinct turnaround in the vibe, attitude and more than likely, income of the biggest motorshow on the Japanese calendar. This change in energy provided a bumper crowd, non stop action and a feel good ether born of the positive thoughts for the future of things to come.

“TAS 2010″ is going down as a vintage year in 7tune’s books.

So much was on offer to the car culture starved public from all corners of the tuning industry in Japan and the rest of the world – old mixed with new, concept gelled with mass production, women drove the men crazy. Everyone had a great day out.

Even after 24 hours of shmoozing, shooting and snoozing, I realized it was not nearly enough to cover the 3 day minimum event. Everywhere you walked there was something that was different from the next, styles individual, companies working together or forging their own paths accentuated by a newly found sense of urgency and passion. It was alive. Alive like it should always be – an organic, flowing stream of information, technology, innovation, connectivity and good will.

Where to begin then?

For me personally, this Rocky Auto tuned and developed S31 personified the extremes to which tuners at the TAS went to with aging chassis’, completely stuffed with rippling technology. I called it the real life “Devil Zed” and the name stuck. Weighing in at a scant 1050kg’s the Z is packing an RB26 / T04Z combo that is capable of unleashing 600bhp in a mild tune, Ferrari F50 calipers front and F430 rear, unspeakably wide 295/ 30 rear tires, not to mention a completely reworked chassis, fuel system and just about anything else you can mention. The estimated $200,000 Devil Z stopped people dead in their tracks – a powerhouse worthy of respect. According to Sawasaki san, the genius behind the development of this masterpiece, it’s a real kitten to drive – until the boost kicks in at 3500RPM, where all heaven breaks loose over hell. 7tune will be bringing you more from Rocky Auto and the “Devil Zed” in the very near future.

Classic cars made a big return to the show – not least of all because of Rays decision to release the TE-37V specifically to cater for the vintage users among the public; a product received with a huge amount of hype. I don’t see what all the fuss is about really – the work Equipe rims are much better looking in my opinion. This particular Skyline and Hachi-roku sported dark grey examples of the TE37V.

While on the subject of classics, this was undoubtedly the car that stole my heart this year. This absolutely perfect Hakosuka KPGC10 blew me away with the work that went into its detail, presentation and “eat off my bonnet” paintjob. I simply could not believe it existed. Here was a car that looked beautiful with timeless angular lines, was flawless in its painstakingly arduous mechanical creation and then displayed gloriously over mirrors that showed an even greater attention to detail underneath.

It quite simply left me speechless. More on that car very soon when I visit its owners to have a closer look at their shop and products.

Moving through the pavilions revealed stage after stage of automotive bliss – the WALD booth for example showcasing what I believed to be the best looking and best presented GT-R at the show this year – the R35 “Black Bison”. I have been invited to Osaka by the management of WALD to check out the showroom and sample some products and this is perfect because I’ve been meaning to cover some action from the South. Expect much more from WALD at 7tune in the weeks to come.

RE Amemiya basically took over a whole corner of one of the pavilions showcasing a large variety of buzzed up and decked out Mazdas with the odd exception being a Super 7 Caterham sporting a 13B turbo conversion. While I have a great deal of respect for the Amemiya legacy, I don’t necessarily agree with RE Amemiya’s ideology of “covering up the rear wheel arches with bodywork” approach.

Didn’t stop their Caterham from winning an award though, did it?

The cars look awkward from certain angles and surely this could not have been the intention. Whatever the reason, at least their previously gaudy sky blue RX-7 now looks much better with a more suitable coat of paint resembling a “royal blue”, as Ken Amemiya liked to refer to it.

I particularly liked the look of these Racing concept mags from Enkei – they really set off the bodywork of the RX-8.

Mazda had a very large presence at this years show and very often you would come across them in very different stages of tuning. This FC3S RX-7 drag car was packing some formidable firepower under the hood plus a unique way to attach side helmet protection.

Komoriya-san of Panspeed was at the show with a selection of his most formidable RX-7s, among them the world renowned yellow Panspeed time attack car.

Still on the subject of rotaries, this carbon fiber bodied, tubular frame FD3S time attack car from Hankook Revolution was a show standout, not just because there was enough carbon fiber to overdose on but also because of the attention to detail that has gone into it plus the savage speeds and times it is capable of achieving.

We will be having a little bit of a closer look at this car later on.

Over at the other end of the Makuhari Messe, Option magazine had put together a huge display showcasing 20 years of RB26 development and tuning. The stand was first class and had some of the finest GT-Rs I have ever seen assembled in the same area.

There must have been at least 15,000 horsepower in this corner of the pavilion alone!

Located in the same area a smattering of tuning houses displayed their wares. Tomei was, as always, making the most of the opportunity. I love the “show and tell” aspect of putting up parts and letting people touch and feel them. No doubt the kids that attended, both big and small, had a great time actually getting their hands on this stuff and not getting them dirty!

To finish up the first post, how about a little bit of a slamming? There’s hardly even enough room to fit a piece of paper under that guard!

This army green S30 Zed had the widest stance I’ve seen since Yuta’s controversial “zombie” Zed

There’s so much to cover at this event I think at least 3 posts are needed, so stay 7tuned for more from the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon tomorrow.

Words: Adam Zillin
Photos: Adam Zillin