One of the most annoying things about being a car enthusiast is that non-car enthusiasts automatically assume you like Bugattis and Lambos. I’d take a decades-old Toyota any day of the week. Many people who don’t know much about cars — as well as many who purport to — default to exotics as the “best” cars, as if price was directly correlated with goodness, quality, and driving pleasure. And yet, these same people usually look upon with disdain the cars readers here hold in high regard. There are cars that take a truly cultured car enthusiast to recognize, like a Toyota Cressida, Nissan Sentra SE-R, or any double-wishbone Honda. Appreciation for such machines is the mark of a connoisseur.
What car separates seasoned car enthusiasts from the superficial?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which Japanese tuning house would you most like to visit?“.
There are countless great tuning shops in Japan to immerse oneself in. Many of you chose manufacturers’ in-house tuners, like NISMO for Taylor C. or Mugen for dankan. Ian N‘s pick of Yamaha could be considered a tuner, considering the work they’ve done for other OEMs (and musical instruments). For Ian G., it’s the Tomica Shop and their interpretation of Japan’s cars that would get his attention.
For independent shops there’s even more variety. streetspirit picked widebody pioneer TRA-Kyoto. Franxou‘s choice of Mitsuoka has certainly left its mark on the automotive world. And ynori‘s choice of off-road specialists JAOS is an excellent option. In the end, this week’s winner this week was TheJWT, who named one of the great OGs of the tuning world:
I always meant to visit Top Secret but never had the chance when I was living there. I visited their booth at the Auto Salon, but I’d mostly just want to meet Smokey and thank him for making some of the coolest cars on the planet. Tuning culture in Japan wouldn’t be what it is without him
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
