Issue 80

Issue 80
June 2008

It’s difficult to say which I enjoyed more – the hustle and bustle of the Tokyo Auto Salon or the crazy, ear-splitting antics of the Bosozoku gang members outside in the car park.

I also didn’t know whether to cheer or cry when seeing some of the gang’s super-rare machines butchered with outlandish body kits and painted in the sort of glittery colours I’d normally associate with a Seventies beach buggy. And as for the antennae-like exhaust systems, well, let’s just say the drivers aren’t exactly known for conforming to health and safety regulations. 

But what the brief Bosozoku parade laps showed me was a side of Japanese culture which is normally hidden to Western eyes. From my research it seems that the gangs’  antics in previous decades – particularly when they used to terrorise neighbourhoods on motorbikes – haven’t been forgotten. There is a stigma attached to the Bosozoku name which will take many more years to fade from people’s memories. Nowadays it seems their greatest crime is cruising around noisily, setting off car alarms within a two-mile radius. However, I reckon that unless you lived near a gang hangout, you’d probably never know these people existed.

Their antics aren’t normally publicised in the domestic media, perhaps because the government is afraid that a new generation of people could become interested in what they think of as a rebellious culture. Personally, I felt no negative vibes being surrounded by this group of people. They may choose to express their individuality in a more outlandish way than the conservative majority, but at the end of the day they’re as enthusiastic about their cars as the rest of us.

And when they saw me with a media badge around my neck, camera in hand, they couldn’t wait to show off. Make up your own mind about the Bosozoku by reading the feature on p48. Every time I look at these photos I smile because I recall how otherworldly it felt to be there. So I couldn’t resist putting a poster of a couple of these cars in the centre pages to help me remember.

Joe Clifford, Editor

In the June 2008 issue..

The Precursor
The JUN Lancer Super Evo X sets the ball rolling for tuning Mitsubishi's new weapon, and the results could well be on your driveway as well as in D1!

Code Crackers
The ECU gurus at Ecutek have imported a new R35 GT-R for R&D purposes, with the aim of de-coding Nissan's 'locked' ECU and to design software that will enable them to remap the new twin-turbo V6

Gang culture
Time it right and for one day only the Tokyo Auto Salon car park becomes the gathering place for the craziest machines on four wheels, Bosozoku style

Electra-Dynamic
The world's rarest Impreza in the UK and fully road legal? Learn more about the crazy S201 and the importer that moved hell and high water to own it

Who are....Goodridge?
If it wasn't for an entrepreneurial racing driver who wanted to improve his car's performance we'd still be suffering with spongy brakes

Posh totty
How do you tempt premium buyers from defaulting to a German brand? Honda thinks it has the answer with its posh new Accord

Infinity times Five
New brand Infiniti hits the ground running with five models in the line-up, so we take a look at what is on offer to tempt readers

K-Class
Lighter and more torquey than the venerable B-series engine, the huge potential of Honda's K-series lump is being explored by UK tuners. For ultimate NA thrills, it seems Advanced Motorsport Engineering has hit the jackpot with its 270bhp 2.2-litre Civic/S2000 hybrid

Crail and Pace
Held at Scotland's solitary drag strip, and being the nation's only Japanese specific car show, this year's Banzai Crail Thrash once again went down a storm

Round one
We report on the first rounds of both the European Drift Championships and Time Attack

Motorvational Screech
If there's a choice between lazing on the beach or attending Australia's recent Motorvation show, our reporter knows where to head on a summer's day

The light fantastic
What better model than a lightweight Evo IX MR RS to showcase the talents of a 700bhp 2.3-litre stroker equipped with a monster GT35R turbo. It's like putting a jet engine in a crisp packet!

Black bullet
He started with a cement mixer and has ended up with a fantastic MX-5 turbo. Who says getting your hands dirty is a bad thing?

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