Being lucky enough to attend the set-up day of the Tokyo Auto Salon on Thursday meant that Speedhunters was the first site on the web to publish coverage from the event. After shooting non-stop for two whole days now, and having accumulated an obscene number of photos it's time to get the proper coverage started with this initial post taking a broad overlook at what the 2010 show was all about. The reason I chose to open this first post with a picture of a Toyota is because its a manufacturer that once again gets my respect, much like it did a few months back at the Motorshow. Not only is this hybrid-obsessed, mundane car company waking up and beginning to take notice of real enthusiasts, but it has actually come up with a new line-up of tuning products marketed under the G's G Sports name. One of my favorite "G's" cars was the all-new Mark X...I can already see this modern sedan sporting a 2JZ swap and battling it out in D1!
VIP and luxury style seems to have gotten bigger and bigger for 2010 with tons of cars exhibiting a variety of styles and many others fusing them all together like the Mode Parfume Phantom F50 Cima above.
Good old fashioned tuned machinery is still very much alive, despite a very noticeable decline in support from some of the biggest companies out there, all suffering from the current state of the economy. The 5-Zigen Accord Euro-R embodies what true JDM tuning is all about!
Which brings us back to Toyota where this spotless Fujiwara Tofu-ten replica AE86 from the popular Initial D anime...
...was exhibited alongside the G's FT86 we saw a peek of during the set-up day. The front-mounted intercooler hints that a possible future turbocharged version of this much anticipated sports car might be a possibility, and by the time the car hits dealers there should already be tons of tune-up products available from G's and of course TRD.
We will also be taking a short look at the D1 drift exhibition that was held on Friday, with top D1 drivers showing us why they are the best in the world.
For years RE-Amemya has been the first stand to hit when entering the halls of the Makuhari Messe. The Chiba-based rotary tuner had a few other surprises on top of Suenaga's new D1 RX-8, like this other 13B-powered "8" built in collaboration with car accessory maker Räzo...
...not to mention this crazy 13B-powered fully customized Westfield!
Plenty of weird and wonderful creations this year too like this "Hakosute" a WGNC34 Stagea that has morphed to mimic the lines of the old PGC10 "Hakosuka" (Boxy Skyline) of the 70's!
The students at NATS did a great job building a Koenig Celica sporting a 80's looking widebody and matte black finish.
The new TE37V, or Vintage edition, were the talk of the show. I spotted a few cars riding on them like the Impulse AE86. Stunning!
Another weird creation from another group of students, this time from the Saitama Automobile University. Can you guess the base car?
I will be pretty much posting TAS coverage throughout the next week and will be doing my best to sprinkle the content with copious amounts of show girl pictures!
We'll also take a closer look at all the GT-Rs that were part of the Option 20th Anniversary RB26 Tuning World exhibit with some pretty legendary cars making the line up...
...anyone remember this particular car? Most versatile BNR32 of all time!
There were a record of 402 exhibitors at this year's show, with lots of smaller shops showing off their creations. I felt it was a better and wider interpretation of the real JDM scene than previous years.
This new T&E S15 was on display at the Yokohama stand wearing a set of brand new RG-Ds.
Always love checking out l'aunsport rally-replicas for the street and this year's show car sure didn't disappoint.
European cars are getting more and more popular in Japan and the turbocharged Golf GTi is proving to be quite a winner with tuners, like Blitz, lined up here next to the Evo X and manual R35 GT-R demo cars.
Kei-cars always make up a fun part of TAS, but don't let this Copen from Half Way fool you, its is actually powered by an EJ engine! The engine swap specialist also had the Lotus Elise demo car on show, fitted with a Honda K20 motor.
There is tons more to come from the halls of the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon so make sure you stay tuned for the next part! I'm off to bed now, up early to cover an interesting track event at Tsukuba tomorrow. January is turning out to be a very busy month here in Japan!
-Dino Dalle Carbonare