The 2022 Japanese Classic Car Show has opened its doors for registration. Now in its 17th year, the show continues to evolve. The biggest change this year is the award categories. There will now be two Best in Show awards, one for restomods, and one for stock. This is a welcome and long-overdue change that will keep judges from having to decide between craftsmanship and originality while recognizing both important sides of the Japanese classic car hobby.
The 2022 JCCS will also welcome as a guest race car designer and builder Peter Brock, of Datsun BRE fame. Brock’s last appearance at JCCS was 2019, so if you missed him then here’s another chance to meet the legend.
In addition, the sub-event Japanese Classic Motorcycle Show also makes its 11th return, and plenty of other festivities are planned. Lastly, the organizers are offering a “Kyusha Otaku” early bird special that will include a sticker sheet (a $10 value) if you register before July 31. If you would like to enter your car or motorcycle, please register at the JCCS website.
The JCCS will be held at Marina Green Park in Long Beach, Calif. on Saturday, September 10, 2022. Tickets for regular admission will go on sale August 1.
Alas, being clear across the country does not help one bit.
JCCS was always my favorite show in the world to attend (even above TAS and SEMA). Even if I skipped other shows, I would never miss JCCS. Been as Vendor and attendee. Been going since the early 2000s. But as its grown, something beautiful about it has died. Gone is the feeling of a bunch of actual gear heads gathering to enjoy their vintage japanese cars. Last year it felt like nothing more than a typical car show that happened to have old japanese cars. I feel like it has become a “cars and coffee instagram jdm meet cute”. More companies, more celebrities, less heart. I never went to JCCS to see a perfect no dime was spared 240z restomod. I went for the ratrod aspect of it all. Real gear heads making things work with lots of out of the box thinking and original ideas. People that were doing something drastically different then others at the time. Not long ago our cars were considered trash by most of the public. Now every kid old enough to use tiktok knows what a soarer/cappu/bastos is. Shit, last time I was a vendor there, all it did was lead to bigger companies with more resources knocking off my truly original parts and claiming they came up with them. Now I don’t even bother making unique parts for others, outside of my friends. Its become so trendy its actually murdered much of the joy of the scene. But that’s just how it goes I guess, as something becomes popular it gets watered down till it resembles everything else. This is the first year I will be missing it entirely and that doesn’t bother me a bit sadly. RIP glory days.