Issue 79

Issue 79
May 2008

For a rotary tuner of RE Amemiya's worldwide stature, the crowds of Tokyo Auto Salon expect the company to deliver something special for the most important show of the year.

Last year saw a Japanese animator's whacky 'Oh!GRe8' RX-8 squeeze a runner-up slot for the company in the Concept Car category but this time it was two cars of RE's own design that hogged the spotlight. A gorgeous silver RX-7 won Amemiya the top award in the Tuning category, possibly because it is rumoured to be the last body kit the tuner is going to make for the FD. There had been plenty of speculation about this car, most likely generated by Isami Amemiya's blog, but it was actually the 'other' RX-7 on RE's stand that was clearly the people's favourite.

Commissioned by a long-term customer of RE Amemiya, the unnamed boss of a company called Digital Builder, it is an RX-7 the like of which nobody has ever seen before. A 700bhp three-rotor powerplant would be enough to secure its cover car status in my book, but the way it pixelated everybody's vision with its flawless carbon fibre bodywork was something else.

Literally every exterior panel, from original to RE's custom aero kit, has been reproduced in the   composite material, which has gone a long way to compensating for the extra weight generated by the heavier 20B engine. The only potential fly in the ointment is RE's use of Porsche headlights, which substantially alter the Mazda's frontal appearance. Make up your own mind about this show-stopping car by turning to our full feature on p18.

In other news, this issue marks the departure of a piece of Banzai furniture, staff writer Andy Basoo, who's been with the magazine since way back in issue 33. For him it's not so much a goodbye as a switch to a new venture on Unity Media's new title Retro Cars; he's not even moving desk! On everybody's behalf I'd like to wish him well in his new venture, and hope he'll finally be able to indulge his hereto illicit love of the Rover SD1 without looking like an extra on BBC's Ashes to Ashes. His above-board obsession with all things Honda will hopefully remain in the Our Cars section as we continue to follow the final chapters of his second- and fifth-generation Civic projects.

Serving to completely confuse us all, I'd also like to welcome Andy's near-identically named replacement, Andrew Biddle, to the Banzai family. Andrew makes his first appearance next month, and in a change from the norm will not be working from Unity Towers in Kent; he'll be based remotely in an office in Lancashire. We've never prioritised features for owners living in the South (as our immense motorway miles testify), but this changeover will hopefully enable us to cover the entire UK scene more effectively.

So if you live north of Birmingham or over the water in Ireland and we haven't heard about your project, then please get in touch at banzai@unitymedia. com. We'll be pleased to hear from you.

Joe Clifford, Editor

In the May 2008 issue..

Digital Love
Is RE Amemiya's carbon-bodied 20B-engined RX-7 creation the people's favourite?

Intelligent Sport
Performance first, clean JDM styling second: James Suh got his priorities right when building one of the world's most powerful Lexus IS300s

Final change to Imprez
The range-topping STi gets a thorough workout with DTM racer, Tim Schrick, at Cadwell Park.

Who are Gibson trimming
Luxury, practicality and individuality are on offer when you have an interior fully retrimmed.

Friendly Fierce
The insurance friendly 1.3 SR makes a welcome return to Toyota's supermini range, but is it all show?

The car that Nismo forgot to build
If Nismo built a 300bhp Skyline GTS, this is what it would look like. Meet Shawn Neale's unique R33 Skyline 300S.

Gray's Anatomy
Meet Banzai columnist Andrew Gray's daily driver, a Toyota that has struck gold by becoming the drifters' favourite.

Lambda probing
How can an old Mitsubishi Galant Lambda compete on track against Evos and WRXs? With a Galant VR4 engine conversion!

Nightlife
Few meets in the south east are as impressive as the Honda nights at Bluewater. We went to see what all the fuss is about.

Swift responce
We often bang on about power to weight ratios, but when Andy McLennan's Swift flew past us at Snetterton, we had no choice but to raise the issue again.

Tokyo auto salon
We take you through the third and final part of our coverage of the most important show of the year.

Playing the fool
Everybody wanted to believe Kosunen Racing was building a Colt Evo but it was supposed to be an April Fools joke; until the rally team decided it could be done after all...

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