They say that the goose-step, ridiculous and inefficient as it may seem, became the march of choice for dictatorships around the world specifically because of its silly appearance. After all, only a terrifying madman could force thousands of able-bodied soldiers to walk that absurdly in precise formation. It’s a method of instilling both awe and fear simultaneously.
That pretty much sums up the feeling we get when we see this horde of bosozoku cars. Cantilevered lip spoilers, double-wide fender flares and yard-long exhaust pipes look insane when parked, no doubt. But get caught in a swarm of them wreaking havoc on the expressway and suddenly it all begins to make sense, even when a dude dressed head-to-toe in a tiger costume rides a convertible’s door sill as his mohawked associate maniacally twirls a baseball bat in the air. It makes one wonder, are they’re launching a siege on Bartertown or something? It’s probably best not to ask questions and just get the hell out of their way.
One more completely deranged pic after the jump.
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[RetroSceneMag]
Fantastic vid and pic! 🙂
At a certain point the video is getting a bit boring with all the same Mark IIs X7 and Glorias, but then it gets better with a fantastic MkII Celica XX and a couple of Kenmery Skylines!
One of my very rare LOL’s at work accrued at T+2:00. Thanks JNC 🙂
…erm “occurred” too early for spell check. lol
The cars are period correct but not the images. Back then they were mostly on the street at night causing chaos to normal people. Plus where are the motorcycles to make the roads clear? I grew up there watching these things go down the street in Japan and they were not the most respected people in Japan. You should have seen them at Enoshima on the weekend! CRAZY~! Thanks for the images!
Sr-FairladyZ – that’s my favorite part too. Notice how the Lincoln Navigator in the 3rd lane completely backs off as the mohawk guy gives him the eye, lol.
Robakun – I have the feeling that the dudes in this video are the same ones you saw in the 80s. Bosozoku 4 lyfe.
Yup they are making a come back as respectful citizens! You should watch “shakotan boogie” for some 80’s flair! I have the “VHS” is you want to borrow it. Do you have a player!?
Dude, I would love to borrow it! I can probably find a VHS player somewhere. 😀
Autoblog saw this post (although they didn’t link to us :S ), and you can see in their comments what non-JDM people think of this.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/10/video-japans-bosozoku-roll-deep-phat-loud-and-weird/
Out of all the nostalgic cars and shows we write about, they pick THIS? It’s surely giving people a skewed impression of Japan.
Yeah Autoblog, like this entry, linked the original source 🙂
THIS (as in these cars)! is how a lot of people ‘discovered’ the more subtle side of Japanese modified car culture : http://www.retroscenemag.com/post/How-one-discussion-thread-changed-the-world.aspx
A lot of these guys are just grown up bosozoku, reliving their older days, also kids who like the style and the atmosphere, kind of like biker runs are often now days.
Thanks for the linkage JNC 🙂
I know, but we typically link to the original and the source where we found it too. You know, spread the love! 🙂
True true,.. a “via” tag is often useful 🙂
Vey cool! Someday my Charmant will roll deep phat loud and weird.
@mouwt: You have the fenderflares on my old trueno and my old exhaust used to make a deep and low noise… Since you swapped most of it to your Charmant it would be very possible. 😛
I’ve been trying to find this song and have had no luck any idea what it is in this video?
The song sounds really similiar to the tune of the “Lion Sleeps Tonight” Lion King track but in japanese. Even the “a-wimba-weh” part is sung??? Around 2minute onwards part i think.
Cool video never the less, MKII Celi-Supra ftw.