The Subaru Forester is a simple car, it takes the handling and safety of the Impreza’s renowned 4wd system and throws it into a mid-sized practical family wagon/crossover. Mix in some of the rally bred DNA from the Subaru STI range and you’ll get a punchy turbo 2.5l boxer engine equipped car that is a far cry away from the standard round-trip to school, A to B affair you’ll find in most families driveway.
To Sumida-san this 2004 Subaru Forester made the perfect blank canvas and his favorite brush to use on it was the ‘lowering brush’…


Recently wrapping up our 2nd trip to Japan for 2015 we couldn’t wait to get stuck into some features and ‘first off the rank’ is Sumida-san’s STI Forester. We met up with Sumida-san by chance in a car park in Osaka late one night.
After a brief chat and some help from his friends we managed to translate enough to organise a shoot. We met up early the next morning and convoyed with Sumida-san and his friends to our location in some equally impressive cars. (More on that soon.)

In the light of day we were gobsmacked! Away from the shadows and orange street lights the paint work came to life and the extremely low ride height of this Forester became immediately apparent.
When it comes to lowering cars Japan is next level!

Tucked into the guards are an immaculate set of Volk TE37Vs. This design is an instant classic and just like the original TE37 that suit almost anything the 37Vs were designed with a vintage feel that looks at home on classics and modern cars alike.

We say “immaculate” as although Sumida-san’s Forester is extremely clean, you’ll find the telltale signs from driving a car this low on the fenders and wheel arches. For some these scars and bruises add character, almost a trophy if you will.

The wheels themselves are flawless and this goes to show it’s just as much about the wheels as it is the car for some. The wheels aren’t just an accessory here, they’re the major draw card and the car/ride height compliment them.

Looking directly from behind you can see just how much camber is used to tuck the wheels into the guard.

This amount of camber is sure to pour more fuel on the fire, the same fire that has been raging across the internet for years. Queue the “That’s just stupid”, “Ruined the car”, “stance is the worst thing to happen since…”.
We’ve all heard it, there’s arguments from both sides of the fence and we couldn’t care less. We like all cars and all styles, all we see is a passionate owner with an incredible car.

The TE37Vs measure in at an impressive 17″ x 10″ -20 on all four corners.

Standing back it really is an impeccable combo. The lines and wheel choice compliment each other perfectly!

Sumida-san drives this height everyday, there’s no airbags in sight. The suspension is comprised of a set of Cusco coilovers with a staggering spring rate of 34k up front and 16k in the rear!

Sumida-san has owned this car for a little over 4 years and in that time the car has gone through a few different looks. From different bumpers, wheels and roof racks. This car has seen it’s fair share of changes.
While every time the look is quite simple it seems Sumida-san is quite reserved in the overall appearance but when it comes to lowering his car he ‘takes no prisoners’ and goes to the extreme end of the spectrum.

Chatting with Sumida-san about his time with the Forester we asked what his favorite thing about it was, of all the answers we were surprised by his simple and humble answer… The pillar-less doors!! We thought it about it and had to agree. It’s not a common feature found on small four door family cars and usually reserved for sports cars and coupes.

Under the hood Sumida-san has kept the same reserved approach as the exterior. All the factory items remain. The only additions are an upgraded air filter and full exhaust system.

When the starting point is an STI badged Subaru there’s not a whole lot you would want to change.

What he has changed has made all the difference, the full exhaust system has amplified the famous boxer grumble from a meowing house cat to a roaring lion. The noise of the flat four echoing off the street was down right menacing!

Aside from enhancing the sound and freeing a few extra horses from the engine, the custom exhaust really changes the look of the boxy Forester.

Tie this in with the aggressive fitment from the wheels and this is sure to break a few necks anywhere it goes, no matter the reason you can’t help but stop and stare.

Inside are a host of ‘knick-knacks’ and ornaments livening up the standard interior along with a chrome gear knob, extended shifter and Grip Royal steering wheel. The drivers seat has also been replaced with an SR4 Recaro for a bit more support over the factory seat.

The more we looked at the car the more we fell in love! The simple look is super aggressive thanks additions like a headlight cover, eyelid, factory scoop and black front lip.

Spacers lift up the rear of the hood helping cooling and adding a little touch to the front that’s easy to miss at first glance.

Believe it or not, this is Sumida-sans first car! An impressive first car to say the least and over the 4 years it’s gone from stock as a rock to the pavement eating, fender smashing car that you see now.

Sumida-san has enjoyed everyday of owning it and at the moment his plans for the future are actually getting it to sit even lower! He also plans on making a few cosmetic changes along the way.

We’re curious to see if the wheels stay or go, it will be hard to top the Volks.

They’re the hero of this car and look great against the blue, we can see why he hasn’t changed them to save the guards from further damage.

Up close you can see the results of running around Osaka with only a few centimeters of ground clearance!

Sumida-san and his group of friends call themselves AKDP, they share the same love for cars and the same sense of humor. Just don’t ask us what AKDP stands for. (It’s not exactly PG-13).
We’ll be posting all of the crew together very soon. Keep your eyes out for the full feature.

We would like to thank Sumida-san for his time and for agreeing to meet a complete stranger early in the morning for a photo shoot. Thanks to Takahashi-san for translating, we had an awesome time with you and the AKDP crew and can’t wait to get stuck into the next feature.
Thanks for reading,
Gwyn.

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.

Just over two weeks ago we received a phone call from the Sydney All Stars crew saying they would be coming to Melbourne and we should host a big meet up!
With the excitement of co-hosting a big meet with our pals from over the border, we got busy making calls and had a location booked with just a week until the date when of course –  disaster struck!
Our first venue had double booked us so and we needed to either cancel altogether or relocate! So it was back to the phone to find an alternative, that was when we called up the ever faithful Caribbean Market in Melbourne’s east. After our last very successful event there, they were more than happy to have us back with just a weeks notice!!


The next step was to invite some friends of Gripshiftslide.com.
Our regulars on the day included Saint Side Shop, Ilovedrift.com, JDMparts.rupewrecht.com and of course we lined up our mate Luke on the decks for the four hour straight set!!
Yep, the day was set to be a hit with the only question mark being the always unpredictable Melbourne weather.

Arriving at the markets around 9:30am, we started setting up and getting everything ready before the big 12pm start. For once it looked as though the weather would be on our side too!
Saint Side Shop and Ilovedrift.com arrived soon after bringing a bunch of cool gear to display, like Cats’ Sileighty drift car and one of Saint Side’s cutom BMX’s.

Dan from JDMparts.rupewrecht.com was all smiles after he had all his amazing wheels on display. This is a dangerous guy to invite to an event because every time we spend way too much time contemplating buying wheels from him! Go away Dan!!!

Our interstate guests arrived a little later after having a big night on the town. They brought along the All Stars Maloo Ute for the journey down from Sydney and had many of the local guys and girls drooling over it all day!

The first car to arrive was this clean black R34 with a twin brother in Bayside blue and so of course by now the excitement was kicking in already… This was going to be a very good day!!

Within minutes little groups started pouring in. This MX-5 was quick to steal our attention from the rest of the group. The bright red roadster looked so good against the green grass!

By now things were really up and running with a constant stream of cars crawling in and we do mean crawling, unfortunately we weren’t advised we were going to need our own volunteers to direct the traffic so we had to improvise a little.
Our friend Paul took charge and was the main man telling everyone where to park and did a killer job –  so a massive thank you goes out to Paul for doing way more than he should have!

Thanks to the teams efforts the main area was looking great, it was jam packed with all sorts of rad cars… from this super aggressive looking Golf

To the loudest car on the day by far, this immaculate black SS Camaro!

Not far from the Camaro was this crazy XY drift car, yep drift car! We’ve been hearing a bit about this build and we’re very excited to get to see the finished result at a drift day really soon.

Even with the main area full, more and more cars kept arriving and the cars began spilling out into another grassy area and soon there were practically two shows running simultaneously.
We loved the sight of this crisp white Hachi Roku rolling in.

Speaking of AE86’s, we couldn’t stay away from this tidy red example on Impul Hoshino’s. As the sun started fading behind the clouds the paintwork really came alive!

Justin’s S2000 was looking good with it’s new shoes, white on white is always a good idea!

We don’t know if the owner of this actually came over from SA but this S12 was so straight and looked great with some slightly aggressive fitting wheels.

It seems our fan base has been infiltrated by Toyota Chaser owners as there was at least 10 at the meet. With examples this good, we weren’t complaining!!

Another big group at the meet had to be the E30 Squad. These boys live and breath everything Bavarian Motor Works, but more specifically the now legendary E30 model.

From the clean and straight.

To those sporting a host of accessories from the M series catalog.

If we had to pick one that captured our hearts it would probably be this one with a great wheel choice and a race inspired interior with a single Sparco seat and an after market steering wheel.

While directing traffic I broke my neck checking out this FC Rx7.

After it had parked I was pulled in by the little details the owner had added around the headlights.

Yep, that’s a black and white manga comic wrapped around the plastics!

It seemed we were treated to a heap of cool older Evo’s.

We counted four Evo 6’s hiding around the place!

Is Melbourne the home of modified Toyota Camry’s?? This very new model Camry was stealing a few looks from passers by and maybe at first people were wondering what type of car it in fact was. The new model is sporting some pretty mean looking headlights!

Another car still in it’s infancy as a modifiers choice of blank canvas, the Honda Jazz. This is something we could get used to seeing a lot more of!!

Jono from Zeroclearance.net’s S13 was looking very dope with a brand new wing and some super wide steelies, sitting beneath the rear guards are wheels measuring a staggering 15×10 with 0 offset!!

Local female drifter and GSS favourite is Esther and her sparkly Sileighty. The obscenely bright pink gram lights always grab peoples attention whether it’s sliding at the track or parking hard at one of our meets, it is clear to see that people love this car.

Or maybe it’s just the numberplate’s?

With cars coming and going all day it was hard to keep track but we think this was the only R35 GT-R in Melbourne that wasn’t on display at the PSRA- Performance Motorshow. (More on that show later!)

We were also very lucky to be graced with two Honda NSX’s!! This is the pinnacle for Honda fan boys. The faces of onlookers as this drove in to find a parking spot was priceless!

We always like to help out a good cause so we let our friends Matt and Simon come along and run a raffle next to our stand, the boys have entered a Mystery Box Rally to help raise funds for cancer research.
We will be keeping you guys up to date  with ways you can help out and even bring you some of the action while the boys are driving the pants of their mystery rally car.

At the end of the day the raffle was drawn by yours truly and a lucky winner walked away with a mystery box of their own full to the brim with $$$ worth of Martini Racing products and Redline gearbox oil and heap of other cool stuff like some GSS merch!!
To stay up to date with the boys and their journey follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/choongaandsimmomysterybox

Niel from Primal Garage brought out his poster worthy 180SX and a very clean customers car…

This is one of the latest cars to roll out of the Primal Garage workshop and the wheel choice was spot on for the new Toyota 86. We think this car needs to have a few more photos taken at a later date.

This old school ghetto blaster was actually tuned in and pumping tunes at a whopping 4watts RMS off the roof of the car… What car??

A rat-rod commodore of course!! This car was actually a big hit and it’s charm seemed to win over a few people.

We also got a visit from a monster truck! Not really but when you park a massive Chevrolet Z71 next to the kind of cars we normally see at a meet like this, there is quite a staggering difference in size!

The Corolla wagon we fell in love with at 100MM was kind enough to show up for the afternoon and park in front of our stalls for us to enjoy looking at it as the event started to wind down.

The 612 Autoworks boys managed to convince Charlie to bring down his brand new toy, a Datsun C210 Skyline. This thing is bad ass and until that afternoon I didn’t even know I wanted one and now it’s all I can think about!

Also this happened… Two DMC Delorean’s!! The two parked up side-by-side and enjoyed a mini photo shoot at the end of the day with a dozen cameras on them at one time. It was a very unique sight and sadly something I might not get to see again.

As 4 o’clock struck we waved off our interstate guests and began packing up the stalls and cleaning up some of the litter left behind.
Given the amount of people that attended the place was looking great and thankfully the markets didn’t mind the disturbance of one of Melbourne’s biggest meets happening right next door to them.
We really can’t thank all those that attended and more importantly helped out with the massive task of setting up and keeping on top of the traffic and then packing it all up at the end of the day again, but you know who you are.
We have some big plans and a west side meet coming very soon! Stay tuned Melbourne and thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

Melbourne’s car scene can be quiet at times, seeming like it goes into hibernation with months sometimes passing between car shows and events that are worth noting on your calendar. Rewind to the last weekend of April and Melbourne was the worst place to be for a young car enthusiast. Not only did you have the option of visiting Calder Park Raceway for the Australian Drift Grand Prix for a full day of intense drift battles with demo runs from top international drivers for the Formula Drift event, you also had the Mighty Car Mod boys in town hosting a very large car meet! Competing with all of this were the new kids on the block… 100MM and their car show/festival ‘Certified’.


100MM is a group of like-minded individuals who wanted to create an outlet for people to share their passions and love for those pieces of metal that roll on four wheels, you might call them cars but to these guys they’re so much more!
The problem is that generally car shows don’t work, they often exclude people based on preferences, individual tastes and can have a bad stigma attached to them which can separate the car scene and send some enthusiasts running in the opposite direction.
So in a day and age where the term “hoon” is thrown around far too much to discriminate and label car enthusiasts as wanton criminals in the public eye, with countless articles popping up in the media every week you could be forgiven for thinking that modified car owners are one of the largest problems in Australia and contribute the most to our roads death tolls… This is of course not the case and it still remains that drink driving, speeding and fatigue are the biggest killers for drivers on our roads.

So what the team behind 100MM have done is nothing short of amazing with this event and although the ideas were simple, it was possible that they had set themselves up to fail. Were the ideas maybe too big for their first attempt?
A car show right in the heart of the city with breathtaking views, live music, a large selection of food trucks, access for the general public to see modified car owners in a new light to help repair their damaged public image and of course to unite car enthusiasts from all sorts of different walks.

Did it work? You bet! Huge crowds and top quality cars all made this a very special day for Victorian car fans.
While it was predominantly a Japanese/European affair there were quite a few stand-out rides from the low rider scene and even a muscle car or two!
This Ford F-Truck was one of our favorites from the show, whilst stationary the airbag suspension had the truck literally resting its’ belly on the ground!!

The exact location was a central park area known as Birrarung Marr. With months of planning and a heap of permits cleared, the green light was given and the entry forms started pouring in from people wanting to be part of the experience.
NSW car crew, House of Stance came down in great numbers to park alongside some of Melbourne’s iconic sculptures and wow onlookers with static suspension and crazy wheel fitment.

One of the hero’s of the show was this picture perfect Ferrari F40, it looked just as good in person as it does on the poster in my bedroom!

As well as plenty of singular entries there were quite a few groups/clubs who entered together.

Melbourne crew and exhaust gasket specialists Frush rallied the troops to bring a heap of old school JDM inspired rides. The team took out best club display on the day too!

Infamous Melbourne MX-5 owner Lon broke necks with her cars’ latest transformation, now with an all out track warrior approach we’re hoping to see Lon out at the track backing up that massive wing with some very minuscule lap times!

Now here is something you don’t see everyday and never at a car show! A clean as hell R32 four door!

We loved everything about this car and the lip spoiler just finished it off perfectly!

This Corolla was a sight for sore eyes. The last time we ran into this little guy was at the Classic Japan show that was hosted here in Melbourne.

The KE25 is a perfect combo of looks and performance. The owner has finished every modification with a meticulous level of detail that doesn’t take away from the cars original charm or body lines.

The one thing that linked all these cars together were the wheels. The owners of many would be considered wheel aficionados and fake wheels are a big no no at a show like this so there were plenty of rare, beautiful and exotic wheels on display…

There were even some wheels for sale with a full display setup from the boys at Tyre Power.

Sitting next to the wheel display was this pristine R8, attracting a lot of stares from the crowd.

Another House of Stance car to make the journey down from Sydney was Chook’s Lexus GS300 and surprisingly the car drove down exactly as you see it here… No trailer queens here!!

There were a healthy amount of Skylines on show of course, but being one of the most popular Japanese cars there were bound to be an abundance of them.

They ranged from simple street cruisers, to subtle track-ready versions. This one was hiding some Project Mu brake discs behind some sporty looking Advan Racing RS wheels.

Then there were the ones that went all out, with this white R34 sporting a Z tune bonnet and matching fenders to make it one very striking looking Skyline.

Michael from Sydney based blog ‘The-Lowdown.com‘ brought his internet famous widebody Evo down to give many a chance to see it first hand in the flesh. Crowned as one of the hero cars of the event, it was one of the highest quality cars on show!

Just a snap shot of some people enjoying the show from the a very exclusive vantage point. Why not set up camp in the back of one of the show cars?!

Feeding the crowd on the day, there was a small army of food trucks offering a range of food that was just as diverse as the people that call Melbourne home.

Someone must have left the bat signal on because old mate Batman made a surprise visit. Tt seemed rather fitting to have the bat mobile on show given that Melbourne was originally founded by a man named John Batman… (Gripshiftslide not just about pretty cars, we teach stuff too!).

Scattered around the show were relics of the shows of yesteryear, like full entertainment systems with custom trimmed interiors.

There was also a throwback to the old Autosalon days, ‘JDMCOP’ is a car that has seen its’ fair share of shows in it’s time. Some might not enjoy it, but just five years ago this was cutting edge!

It wasn’t all just tyre shine and polish, there was also plenty of performance oriented rides. Everywhere you looked, there was a popped bonnet or two showing of a plethora of ‘go fast’ bits and pop up parts.

This Toyota Corolla Wagon from the Frush crew stole our hearts. We hope to see it out and about at future shows/events!

One of the biggest surprises of the show was owner of DT Panels Vu and his seemingly overnight makeover of his infamous track attack S15, part of the newly formed time attack crew Nakama. His S15 had become known for its cream coloured paint and just as it was getting more and more people recognising it, it has been transformed with a striking gold/blue paint job. Photos seriously don’t do this paintwork justice, you simply have to see it with your own eyes!!

Food, people and cars. A true recipe for success if planned and prepared to the highest of standards. 100MM pulled it off without a hitch and the show has done wonders for the whole car community and united car lovers not just from Melbourne but all over Australia!
Schedules permitting we would love to be involved with the next show and bring our own team of cars along for the fun!
Until then, thanks for reading.
– Gwyn.
Photos: Adrian Brinduse | MK3 Productions
 

Last Friday was a special date on the 2013 calender, it was dubbed “S13 Day” 1/3/2013. Local Nissan enthusiast and all round top bloke Niel Gray from Primal Garage eagerly set about organising a meet for Melbourne S13 owners to come together to celebrate the humble 25 year old chassis.
With a strict S13/180SX invitation only, I opted to go as a passenger in a friends Type X 180SX. This meant I could try my hand at a few rolling shots between the eastern suburbs pre-meet and the final destination, at the Essendon DFO Shopping Center.


We left the pre-meet at around 7pm with six Nissans, including this ‘strawberry’ faced 180SX. (So much for a strict 6:30pm departure!)

Thankfully the group decided to go via the freeway which allowed for tonnes of shots showing all the rides in action.

Once the group passed through the Domain Tunnel we joined the Tullamarine Freeway (Melbourne’s oldest freeway), where there is a bit more happening in the background which made for some interesting backdrops for a couple of shots.

There were a few funny looks from motorists as the pack made their way to the meet point in Essendon but we didn’t care!

We arrived to find a similar sized group already there waiting for us. Not knowing what to expect numbers wise, I thought it was pretty good just to see cars in the double figures.

There were already quite a few different examples of the older Nissan we have all come to love over the years and of course we had the regular S13/Silvia, hatchback 180SX and a few mix n’ match versions.
Pictured is a Onevia, which is the combination of a 180SX nose/front on the regular Silvia body.

Parked close by was the reverse combination, a Sileighty. You guessed it! A Silvia front end on the 180SX hatchback body.
Some of these ‘Sileighty’ variants were produced and sold in Japan for Nissan by a company called Kid’s Heart.

This particular Sileighty belongs to Jason, who has given the car a host of updates since taking ownership a few years ago. Not only has he attached a Silvia front to the car he has also then given that a complete freshen up!
The car now wears J Style ‘Brick’ headlights with 2up clear covers and URAS front grille.

All four corners have been dressed up with a GP Sports body kit and some uber rare D1 style rear window covers, rumored to be the only set in Australia too!

It seems it is the same story every time I shoot at the DFO Shopping Center, the light is always fading when I start so I run around like a mad man with his finger stuck to the shutter button before it gets dark.

Parked next to Jason’s Sileighty was Neil’s good ‘ol fashioned 180SX. As you can see, the Silvia front offers quite the transformation!

Neil’s 180SX is a very nice example of what the Type X can be. with a rather simple looking wide body conversion you could be forgiven for thinking it was from factory.

From looking at the fuel cap you can see just how much wider the car actually is. It’s also hard not to notice how well the AME TM-02 wheels fill out the widened guards!

Let’s play a game. LS Integra tailights or S13? Ok go!

The vibe at the meet was fantastic and chilled, with everyone taking some time to walk around and check out other people’s cars, just one of the joys of a smaller meet I guess. With some of the larger events held recently, it has been next to impossible to get around and see everything on offer.

There were quite a few late arrivals but none snapped as many necks as this clean and tidy RPS13 (Type X).

The sleepy eyes are a nice touch here.

The numberplate’s are a clue that this car originated from Queensland but has since migrated south to Melbourne. Surely this is a win for Victoria with such a nice 180SX now on our streets.

The bronze Volk TE37 wheels instantly reminded me of local drifter and fabrication extraordinaire – Nigel Petire’s red 180SX driftcar.

Perfect factory lines accentuated by a little bit of lowering (read – a lot!) and some nice wheels.

All in all some 20-30 Silvia’s were parked together over the course of the little event.

Although it was a strict S13/180SX meet, there were bound to be a few intruders… One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong.

This two toned beauty stood out thanks to some interesting vinyl wrapping on the front fender. It is cool to see so many of the same make/model cars parked together and check out all the owners twists/touches they have added over the years.

This black Silvia was a bit more VIP style compared to the street look of some of the others. The big flared kit and dished Work VS-KF wheels do wonders for the boxy shape!

The light was really getting low at this point so we decided to try and clean up the lines of cars and get everyone into order so Silvia’s together on one side and 180SX on the other side.

While everyone was busy moving their cars I was drawn back to the white 180SX… So damn nice!!

This was the last we saw of the sun before it disappeared behind the shopping centre.

I tried my luck with a few old ‘camera on the end of a tripod’ snaps to get some wide shots of the cars together.

Even without the light the Primal Garage 180SX looked stunning!

I also loved how the setting sun made the bonnets look on these S13’s. The lines in the bonnet looked great!

One of the latest arrivals was Jacquii with her pride and joy. It is always great to see a female into cars, modifying and motor sports… Yep Jacquii has taken the car though it’s paces at one of the DECA days last year and has plans to drift it too!

Some of the 180SX’s parked together, from this angle you can see how striking the D1 vents are on Jason’s Sileighy but more on that in the very near future.

Another good example, here is a comparison between the standard tail lights on the left and the updated RPS13 (Type X) version on the right.

With the light completely gone and our stomaches fast becoming empty, it was time to hit up some fine eateries back in the eastern suburbs and we opted for dumplings of course!

This was one of my favorite meets of late, probably due to the fact that I got out of driving but most likely because of the good people.
It felt like the good old days, before cops knew what imports where and before the word ‘hoon’ had the meaning it holds today.
Hats off to a great group of enthusiasts and of course Neil for making this happen!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.

The boys behind The Lowdown.com and Sydney’s uber successful car show ‘Showcased‘ decided to go from one extreme to another.
They’ve gone from organising one of the most hyped and planned events on the calendar to one of the most casual street car meets in recent history.
Their previous work with the Showcased car show saw a multi level car park in Sydney’s CBD get closed off and then filled with the best cars from all over. With months and months of planning in the lead up to the big day and then with less than 48 hours notice, the team decided to get everyone together and opted for something a bit more ‘low’ key.


The invitational flyer was posted on Facebook just two days before the proposed meet.
The grass-roots nature and ‘everyone is welcome’ vibe spread far and wide within the 48 hour window and the turnout was fantastic to say the least!

Hundreds of people came down for some much needed mid-week stress relief. There were cars coming and going from 7pm till 11pm, so  the crowd was shrinking and then just as quickly again growing with each hour.

The quality of cars was amazing but the real surprise was just the atmosphere that came from such a laid back approach to the meet.

Some standout cars included this simple black R35…

And the Dixcel/Garage 88 FD Civic also came out to visit!

The Acquired Taste Evo’s sitting pretty together.

This one in particular has been bouncing around the interwebs for a few months now. We are proud to see an Aussie car getting so much love around the globe… Although another local Evo tops this one in the E-fame department.

Ladies and gentleman, ZOMAYA!! This wide body creation by The Lowdown team member Michael has been stirring the lower regions of young men and women everywhere!
There are countless images of this being shared all over the web every day and we can see why!!!

A glimpse of the 200+ car turnout!

A testament to the healthy fitment scene in NSW – this is the perfect street car.
Not stupid expensive, just nice wheels and a bit of power… Perfect!

Creative lanyard placement, although we’re not sure how well it will go if it needs a tow.

Chooks’ Lexus drops jaws and panties everywhere it goes!
We hope the success of these back to basics car meets kick off a ‘less is more’ approach to the car scene. With more and more blogs/organisations popping up, everyone is trying to out do each other with each and every event but at what cost?
Keep meets fun, casual and most importantly accessible to everyone!
Thanks for reading,
– Gwyn.
Photos by Nicholas Truong | SB Captures