porsche – Gripshiftslide

Japan Day 2 :: Daikoku Futo PA

Grant — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 09:32:31 +0000

After 36 hours in Japan we finally hit up some car action at none other than Daikoku Futo PA! This tiny car park in the middle of a man made island in the Yokohama harbor is a thing of legend. If you’re into Japanese cars chances are you’ve seen more than a few photos from this location. Here car owners from different walks of life all gather and soak up the experience that is Daikoku Futo any night of the week and during the day on weekends.

Staying in Yokohama meant the parking area was just 15 minutes from our hotel. So hurried back after dinner and set off on our adventure.

The very first sight we were greeted by as we drove down the long spiraling off ramp into the parking area. This ‘Tron’ looking BMW convertible that had light glowing from everywhere. We parked up and ran around like kids in a candy store.

I can’t explain the ‘fizzy’ feeling you get standing in this spot at night… The cars, the orange light and the sound of engines revving is just unlike any car meet at home. The scale of the freeway ramps that circle you create this theater filled with the sounds of cars entering and leaving the car park. It really is just massive!!

The amount of cars even on a quiet night like this was staggering, cars were coming and going all the time. It was impossible to keep up when shooting on a tripod.

These three where all friends.

We loved this bumper-less Crown. It was also refreshing to see a modified Crown after the sea of Japanese Taxi’s getting around Tokyo!

The wheels were on the smaller side for a car of this size bit it still looked great all together.

Our second night in Japan and we were already treated to the sight of a Hako Skyline.

It was beautiful!!

This matte green air-cooled Porsche was a very cool sight amongst all the domestic cars.

There was a small army of MX-5’s out in force.

I’ve only ever seen one or two cool looking MX-5’s together at home so it was awesome to see more than 5 at the same place.

This little dark green one was rocking some wide wheels on the rear. Photos don’t do it justice!

Our favorite MX-5 had to be this BN Sports kitted black number. The level of dish was high with this one!

There was a few Honda’s out and about too.

This little blue EG Civic was sitting stupidly low, it looked awesome from every angle.

The greatest Civic Type R in our eyes… The EK9. These things are just pure awesome!

Another Type R on the same TE 37 wheels.

Over in the corner some local bosozoku bikers were meeting and revving their bikes. When I got closer I realised they were playing songs. They had each made up their own song and began reciting them one after another simply using their engines.

This was one of the coolest aspects of the parking area, getting up close to these amazing machines/people I’ve heard so much about.

Old Suzuki’s and Honda’s seemed the bikes of choice and they all had their own personal touches.

Our personal favorite of the entire night had to be Kazuki’s flawless 86.

The subtle red glitter in the paintwork was beautiful. We were digging the mismatched wheels. Work Equips up front.

TE37V in the rear.

This is seriously one very cool street driven hachiroku!!

Not to far away we found some very nice looking Infiniti’s.

This FX was dropped on it’s airbag suspension while it was parked and had heaps of top end audio gear inside. The roof racks had a very cool flower wrap on them too.

The G-Series sedan was sitting low on a set of 3SDM 0.08 wheels.

These wheels looked the business gleaming away under the street lights.

As it turns out the Toyota Prius is one of the most modified cars in Japan, seriously every second one we saw had blacked out taillights, wheels and an exhaust. This one was a little bit different and certainly had a bigger budget then most sitting pretty atop a set of fifteen52 Tarmac wheels. This thing looked killer.

From big budget to low budget this ‘diy’ Legacy wagon would look at home at most grass root race events. The matte black paint and custom front splitter design along with the rear wing made for a menacing looking street car.

One of the few Supra’s we saw, this was definitely the more wild looking of the bunch. Check out the rear diffuser setup!!

The car park fell quiet for a short time, the silence was quickly interrupted by the unique burble of this Porsche arriving. The sound stuck out like a chip packet being opened in a church.

One for the rotary fans. This spotless white FD RX-7 was certainly worthy of a few photos.

The body kit seemed like a simple lip kit at first but became all the more extreme when you got closer. The rear diffuser alone was a work of carbon art!

A late and brief attendee was this Evo wagon, such a shame we don’t see more of these in Australia. I’ve only ever seen one in real life before this.

This Scion XB was pushing the camber out on the rear wheels, lots of character here. mismatched panels, rusted bonnet and stone chips galore. This was cool!

This tiny Suzuki Alto was just tucking these 14″ mesh wheels in the rear.

It had some patched up fender damage on the front from running so low around Tokyo’s streets.

Later in the evening another cool 86 arrived, this time a coupe!!

In the infamous two tonne black & white combination and on a set of Watanabe wheels… Perfect!

It doesn’t get much cooler than this, sitting behind an idling Toyota Sprinter in Yokohama.

There was truck loads of Toyota’s by this point. Check out the crazy fitment on this Crown.

This Chaser was in pristine condition and funnily enough had the loudest sub woofer I’ve heard on the street. It was ridiculous!!

It had a nice amount of dish too!

One of the toughest looking cars of the night had to be this black Nissan Cima.

The big chunky wheels set it off perfectly.

It’s hard to describe this car without using the word “gangster”…

Even more Toyota Crowns!! They’re literally everywhere here! We were about ready to call it a night before the police did it for us After a few too many cars got a bit loose when leaving the car park.

Then this arrived… The hero car of the night. a sky blue liberty Walk R35 GT-R.

The huge over fenders of the rocket bunny kit perfectly covered the massive rear wheels.

This thing was big!!

Seeing a car like this here in Japan was really a special moment for me, I stood still just enjoying it not even touching my camera for a few minutes before I felt the pain in my feet that comes from a 15 hour day of walking none stop.
So that was that we called it a night and headed back to our hotel.
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

Custom Cars & Coffee :: Melbourne 2015

Grant — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 06:00:40 +0000

Melbourne is arguably the home of Australia’s best coffee and also home to some of the best street cars getting around, when these two things come together it means it’s once again time for Custom Cars & Coffee…

Victorian’s are a lucky bunch indeed if roasted beans and automobiles are your thing, with regular Cars & Coffee meets held by our friends over at RTR in the west every month which can see over 100 cars or more if the suns out, while “Custom Cars & Coffee” (CC&C) sees only two events a year and proves to be the bigger affair.

This was the second ‘CC&C’ meet held again at Sandown Raceway, this time the weather was undoubtedly some of Melbourne’s “finest” with frequent showers all morning… Despite the rain there was a considerable turn out in the hundreds, the ‘CC&C’ events seem to make for one of the most eclectic car shows around. I’ve not been to any other event that has anywhere near the variety you’ll see here.
One of the first cars to steal my attention was this pristine Camaro Z28, some muscle cars really don’t do it for me. This however has some of the best lines of any in it’s era.

This rusted Holden HZ premier had a few people making some puzzled faces. We loved all the little details and the ‘curb feelers’ were the icing on the cake!!

This MG MGB Roadster was a big win on the euro front, the superlite wheels really changed the demeanor of the tiny convertible. It’s nice to see some people aren’t afraid to add some character to a classic.

While on the subject of European cars ‘CC&C’ did not disappoint. There was something on display from nearly every major stable. Although it seems Germany is the country of choice for most.

There was a handful of Porches like this duo in white, a beautiful 911 and a road ready-racer GT3.

Hands down my favorite V8 powered saloon car. The Mercedes C63. The 6.2L engine creates the most euphoric noise simply by mixing petrol and air! Amazing!!

Between spats of rain when the heavens finally closed up the sun came shining down resulting in some quick costume changes for some.

Despite being on the ‘plumpier’ side compared to the old model, tipping the scales at almost two tonne. The new BMW M5 can get up to 100kph from stand still in just over 4 seconds… The M5 is definitely punching above it’s weight!!

I think I saw a bunny wabbit!! A MK1 Golf aka the Volkswagen Rabbit in the US. The original Golf has always been a charmer, before these guys “Hot Hatches” didn’t exist.

Aside from VW’s as far as the eye could see there was a healthy amount of BMW’s filling out the lines at the show. This E30 was picture perfect sitting atop it’s mesh wheels.

The Z4 M is one of the most underrated roadsters of the modern area. With a punchy straight 6 engine and great handling just add some iconic Japanese wheels and it’s winning combo in our books!

At every show there’s that one car, that one you wait just a little bit longer for people to move out of the way to make sure you get the photo…

This was ‘The car’… This stunning E92 BMW was menacing from every angle.

There’s no denying the wheels are the hero here. 3 piece Work Meisters in satin black.

The fitment is spot on, the owner is brave to be driving around like this in Melbourne for quite a few reasons!

All the cool kids rock up late these days and nothing says cooler than a fresh yellow sticker from the boys in blue. The owner of this Golf also scored some airtime on the “highway patrol – TV Show” so keep your eyes out for that episode when it airs.

It’s easy to see why it got so much attention from side on… Absolutely slammed on a set of Porsche wheels, check out that dish!!

More AMG goodness, this time a coupe. We miss hood emblems, stupid inconsiderate pedestrians ruining it for everyone!!

Another comfortable German four door packing a V8 under the hood and mated to Audi’s renowned 4WD system makes this one quite capable in corners and off the line!

Speaking of 4WD… Not many can come close to the mighty Nissan GTR. The Victorian chapter of Skylines Australia had a huge display of Japan’s greatest export on show.

Round taillights as far as the eye can see…

There was plenty of R35’s on display and amongst such a large group it didn’t take much to stand out, just some wheels and a nice drop in the ride height and this grey number was looking great!

One of the most Iconic colours for the R34’s. Bayside Blue is always a favorite of ours.

We were pleased to find two GTR’s wearing blue at the show, if they were girls at a party they would NOT be friends right now.

This track spec R33 GTR was looking nice thrown into the mix, definitely not the most popular GTR model but this one was very aggressive! It just looked like it was itching to get out onto the track!!

The V35… Some love to argue it’s not a “real” Skyline at all. Others simply see it for what it is… A sleek and sporty luxury coupe. They were a big hit in the US.

The bad weather meant many entrants were running late, cars kept flowing in all morning.

Everyone’s favorite. A Ford Mustang. The blue was great colour on the classic body and with a bigger chin than a man from a Bonds commercial too!

Now to a local hero… The Holden SL/R 5000 Torana. With hulking wheel arches from factory and the green hue it certainly was looking angry!

Remember when I said this was the most eclectic car show around? Down the front we found a giant Dodge ‘truck’, wrapped commodore and wrapped Monaro.

The ‘loud’ looks of the other wrapped cars were dulled by this gleaming Mercedes coupe. The gold wrap had a mirror finish, we were just happy the sun was tucked away behind the clouds!!

In between checking out all the cars there was often the distracting sound of some cars blasting around Sandown circuit, this was the perfect backdrop for the car show.

We don’t know why this guys been hiding from all the Classic Japan shows… A pristine Mitsubishi Galant GTO is a rare sight to be had!

Onto some more classic rides from the land of the rising sun. There were a handful of beautiful Z’s on show.

This was our favorite 270ZX of the bunch, super clean, wheel flares and dished wheels. Perfect!

There was even some quality cars for the little guys at the show! Any kid rolling around in the driveway in one of these bad boys is sure to be the envy of all the other kids in the street.

It seems there were also a few nice cars out in the car park.

We found Daniel’s MX5 adorning a few extra additions.

The new spoiler is a killer piece to finish off the look of the car.

Now we’ve all seen manga art used on a car but we’ve never seen a panel this big done entirely in manga comics.

While it’s pretty extreme it is nice to see some quality artwork up close.

One of the more ‘wild’ looking 86’s at the show, this one paying homage to Toyota Racing Developments ‘TRD’.

Hybrid and electric cars are for rain forest loving hippies right? Wrong!! Tesla has been changing people’s perception of electric powered cars since 2008. Thanks to some ingenious engineering, some 600 newton meters of torque and over 300KW of power.
While range is still the biggest issue for these types of cars speed certainly isn’t a problem anymore.

Easily one of the most curious cars at the show… The English sports car known as the Ultima GTR.

It’s offered both as a fully built road ready car and funnily enough as a (do it your self) kit car. The car is however far more advanced than it’s diy origins let on.

Utilising a tubular steel space frame with a fiberglass body it’s light, really light!! Weighing in a smidge under a 1,000KG.

Inside is one of the simplest interiors we’ve ever come across. No distractions here just some pedals, a shifter and a steering wheel. Surrounded by a generous splash of Alacantra and this is somewhere we simply refer to as our “happy” place.

The engine found in the “turnkey” version (factory built) is a small block V8 sourced from Chevrolet mated to ether a Porsche gear box or Getrag Transaxle unit. Recent builds have been putting out over 500kw… That makes for 0-100kph in about 2.6 seconds!!!!

Now the exotics. Custom Cars & Coffee really has it all. There were Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, and Maserati’s for all to see.

Lamborghini’s have always been the pin up poster car of choice for young enthusiasts but it wasn’t until the Murcielago came along in 2001 that Lamborghini really took the mass produced super car fight to Ferrari. Paving the way for the Gallardo which sold more in total than all previous Lamborghini’s combined! The Murcielago was however the more extreme of the two featuring the companies biggest V12 engine to date.

The Murcielago really is one of the most striking cars in person and easily one of the widest at over two meters wide!!

What would an Italian super car be with out scissors doors?! It really adds to the theater of the angry Italian bull.

The heart of the beast. A 6.5L monster of a V12. One of the last we’ll ever see thanks to stricter emission laws.

Lastly another V12 terror from the land of pizza. The Ferrari Testarossa. One of the most Iconic supercars of the 80’s and also known for it’s ridiculously large side mirrors.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Custom Cars & Coffee and can only imagine what the turnout would have been like if the weather was on the dryer side.
This is hands down the best mix of cars we’ve seen on home soil and really captures the feeling we get seeing all the photos from some of the coffee meets from Irvine, California.
We’re look forward to the next big event these guys conjure up, to keep up to date follow their Facebook page here. Customcarsandcoffeemelbourne
In the mean time if you have a craving for early mornings, roasted beans and gorgeous cars then check out the regular monthly meets held by Road Track Rally – Cars & Coffee
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

Beyond Blue :: Show 'n' Shine / Meet & Greet

Grant — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:33:48 +0000

What better way to start off the new year than with a big car meet?! Held at Moorabbin Super Centre this Facebook only event had huge numbers confirming their attendance. All were there to show off their rides whilst supporting the great charity Beyond Blue.

The first car that really caught my eye was this uniquely painted Chrysler Sigma Scorpion. It was airbrushed in a military aircraft style complete with rivets and imitation surface rust.

At first glance I thought this was a modified Mitsubishi Starion! As I got closer I was shocked to find that this was a Chrysler. With the classic standard wheels dressed in matte black the car is not screaming for attention yet the paint work really draws you in.

Although this car meet was mainly made up of Holdens and Fords I chose to focus on the imports and cars that caught my attention. This R34 decided to create his own car park as the space was seriously getting limited.

The award for attention to detail has to go to this Hz Holden panel van! It featured a shiny new V8 that was cleaner than most cars in attendance.

The cars continued to roll in! This immaculate 86 flew past bringing with it many new cars to the meet.

The pair that really stood out for me were these amazing 86’s. Both had their own style and both were real neck breakers.

It’s the small details of a car that really give it personality. Take for instance this Snoop Dogg air freshener which helps give the car some attitude. Unique air fresheners are becoming popular; our friends at Saint Side have all the gear to make your car stand out.

An automotive icon, the Toyota Supra, is a car that will always stand out even if it’s not painted in bright yellow! It has most likely the biggest ass on a 2 door car you will ever see! This along with its performance makes it a true modern day classic.

Pretty much sex on wheels.. so lots of people are not into stance but you have to respect the look of this immaculate 86. With iconic Work Meisters wheels and a beautiful static ride height it’s hard to believe how this car can be driven daliy with out any guard damage.

Want to make your Commodore and your bike stand out? Vinyl wrap them in blue camo! Wearing some funky star shaped shoes this Holden had a style all of its own.

I was surprised to see this type 3 VW at a car meet like this. Usually more suited to a Euro meet it was great to see a mix of car makes on show.

A true combination of modern and classic merged together this interior is very individual while being subtle at the same time.

Modifying an Audi takes balls. Not only is the car expensive but also the parts! In saying that this looks great and we wish more people would make their Audis look dope.

There were lots of cars that turned up and I mean lots of cars! With 4 car parks full the car meet scene is starting to heat up again this year with plenty of new players.

Luxury cars never looked so good. Dumped on its ass this Mercedes embodies extreme luxury with plenty of style.

Neo would approve of this paint job! Heavily airbrushed with heaps of detail! Although this style was extremely popular in the late nineties you do not see much of it these days.

Why take a Ferrari to a local car meet? Because you can! As soon as it parked a huge crowd formed and the questions started. So how fast have you been in it? Does it get you the ladies?!

As the Boxter becomes more affordable we will soon see a lot more modified Porsches on the road.

The purple engine bay adds a lot of character to this s15. Dressed all in white with some classy gold wheels and a nice kit it’s hard to walk past this beast without a second look.

As the sun went down the cars started to leave and what was left? A genuine Tommy Makinen Evo that had been hiding behind the crowd of Commodores and Fords.
This was the biggest car meet I had been to in some time. It was similar in numbers to HWY yet with less trouble. It looks like there will be plenty of large car meets and cruises this year and we look forward to checking them out.
Thanks for reading,
Grant

TYP901 :: FedSquare Porsche Display

Grant — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:20:38 +0000

The 911 is one of the most iconic cars going around and on this cold day in Melbourne, about 25 nicely preserved 911’s turned up for a display that was 3 years in the making, because when you book a spot at Federation Square, be prepared to wait up to 3 years for it!

There was a wide assortment of cars on display on the day but this was the only Carrera RS, the subtle differences made this car completely stand out amongst the crowd.

Keeping cars like this in immaculate condition is no easy feat and when you consider that these cars are 40+ years old, it makes you really appreciate them even more.

it was good to see that many of these cars were road registered and are not just hidden in garages and only driven on the occasional weekend.

Only a nice set of Simmons wheels can make a porsche look even better!

The shape that started it all! Its no wonder the 911 Porsche is so popular to this day.

I don’t know what it is about these old school stickers but I think they add a lot of character.

The amount of people I saw taking photos in front of the Porsche’s was staggering, It is almost like these cars are the thing of boyhood dreams and that the only way people can live out those dreams is through displays like this.

The rare badges and fine details are something you don’t see on the cars of today.

i love the brass springs and bolts on the throttle bodies, they show the type of quality and prestige this legendary car is known for.

Even the club stickers are classic and well designed.

This looks to have seen some track action in its day.

Nothing says race like a fuel filler right in the center of the bonnet.

Although this my look like a toy cars interior it is not! Just the bare basics is all that was needed back in the early 1970s.

This isnt the place you would expect to find good fitment and stance-like ride height but this Carrera RS was doing it very nicely.

A rainbow of Porsche’s!

Targa top! Looking at this makes me think of the Audi A1 silver highlights and whether this was the inspiration for it.

This colour probably started the frog label for Porsche, but damn it looks good.

With these wheels the car almost looks like the 356 Porsche!

just another cool badge!

This is one of two cars sporting funky little fog lights.

Even children where getting a kick out of seeing these cars.

Engine stickers! These should be remade for all types of cars! They are great and make it much easier to identify the engines in these Porsche’s.
The TYP901 club put on a great display and really showed the public how beautiful these classic cars really are.
If you want to check out more info on the TYP901 club forum, http://www.typ901.org/
Thanks for looking,
– Grant