By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I though it was quite interesting how people in Europe fit big Bentley wheels to their VW and Audis like we have seen recently in some of Jeroen’s posts. So I was rather surprised when I saw this Audi A6 Avant in the paddock at Sendai Hi-Land this past weekend sporting a similar style with 20-inch “B” marked wheels at each corner. I wonder if we will be seeing more of this at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January!

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

And how about hot bodies riding in Bentley’s like Nicole Scherzinger.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I was recently down south in Osaka for a few assignments and stopped by at one of Kansai’s most respected tuners, Auto Select. They are renowned for building some pretty wild track cars and we will be taking a look at some of their creations in the near future but it is actually this car that impressed me the most. This BNR34 circuit racer is driven daily on the streets of Osaka by the owner of Global Auto, the biggest GT-R reseller in Japan. We have seen plenty of their cars grace the front pages of this site, but this one really does take the cake. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I was like a kid in a candy store the other day at Rocky Auto. The selection of cars at the main shop is nothing short of mind-boggling, each one so different from the next yet so impossibly original. Watanabe-san always has so many ideas in his head for future projects, and I really can’t believe he manages to come up with such unique cars each time he puts his thinking hat on. Take this PGC10 2-door Skyline 2000-GT hard top for example.

It is one of many demonstration cars that are kept at the shop and used on a daily basis by the man himself. Like most of the cars that come out of Rocky Auto this Skyline has been given a new breath of life, with a series of modifications that transform it into a very modern feeling car. Power is courtesy of an RB25DE, which is smooth and powerful, allowing the classic Skyline to retain its original straight-six feel. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’ve been particularly interested in the Australian scene at the moment and checking out what kind of crazy cars there are out there. It’s more than obvious these Aussies don’t hang around! Take a look at this R32 GT-R built by Croydon Racing Developments, crazy hi-power engine under the hood and and almost stock exterior. Me like!

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m spending this week driving around Tokyo in a brand new Fiat 500 Abarth esseesse. I haven’t had a chance to drive it much but I’m already getting used to its tiny dimensions and massive fun factor. It reminded me of the great cars that have worn the Abarth badge in the past and I had to post some pictures of this 131, my favorite of them all. I spotted this very rare example quite a while back at Super Autobacs, parked up like it was any regular car!

The Bertone designed 131 Abarth Rally was a very special car, powered by a 2L twin-cam 4-cylinder developing 140 HP at 6,400 rpm. 500 examples were built in 1976 to homologate the cars that participated in the World Rally Championship, which it won in 1977, 1978 and in 1980 in the hands of a certain Wlater Röhrl! Continue reading at Speedhuners

Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

You are looking at one of the most far out GT-R time attack projects ever created. It cost a massive $350,000 to build and has yet to see the light of day on a race track. It all started back in 2006 when Hiroya-san, a very good customer of Garage Ito in Osaka, decided to see if he could challenge the lap time record at Tsukuba set by the HKS CT230R. Hiroya-san is a very successful business man, and with his company pretty much taking care of itself he decided to dedicate some more time to his passion. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

After seeing a widebody JZA80 at Fuji Speedway last month for the HKS Premium Day I was instantly reminded of this Abflug-Curve Supra I shot a few years back. To this day it is one of the most extreme body conversions I have seen, along with another mega-wide Abflug JZA80 I snapped years ago. You can always count on the guys at Abflug to shock and come up with unique designs with this particular GT-05 kit taking inspiration from the Supras that used to race in the JGTC championship, now known as the Super GT. Continue reading at Speedhuners

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I’m not quite sure why, but I felt strangely drawn to this KP6 Toyota Starlet during the recent Omega Oil track day in Tsukuba. How can you not like its 70s/80s old-school feel, enhanced with body modifications that include massive N2-like overfenders and a set of vintage wheels. The interior was kept pretty simple to start off with so the owner obviously didn’t feel the need to go crazy and remove too much trim… …the stock dash and instrument binnacle remaining, but sporting a custom instrument cluster with simple, fuss-free Omori gauges. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

I have had a thing for the R30 for a while now. The more I see these angular eighties Skylines the more I like them and this particular example sporting massive overfenders has to be one of the coolest I have come across. I have no idea who it belongs to but from the license plate it’s from southern Japan. Absolutely stunning!

By Dino Dalle Carbonare

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Cars are like food. Their main aim is to satisfy and fill your appetite for a variety of motoring cravings. And as of late I fell like my diet has consisted of too much boosted Japanese machinery sprinkled with the odd tasting of more tantalizing Euro exotica. So the other week I thought I’d get myself the motoring equivalent of steak and mashed potatoes, although this particular car came with dollop of hot sauce! I wanted to see for myself how driving and living with a modern day American muscle car would fare in one of the world’s most cramped cities. Continue reading at Speedhunters

By Dino Dalle Carbonare