We just returned from Monterey Car Week, where cars of all types mingle on the streets of the central coast peninsula. Traditionally Japanese cars have been relegated to the sidelines but are now gaining respect, even among the blue-bloods. Sure, cars like the Toyota 2000GT or Mazda 787B hold sway, but those aren’t exactly accessible to the average person. Our ride this year, a Toyota Previa SC, cost under $3,000 and received its share of plaudits, and it got us thinking:
What’s the most inexpensive way to command respect at Car Week?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “What’s your favorite automotive hat?”
Your favorite automotive hats ranged from the funny, like @ye and j_c, to the nostalgic — Drive510‘s tuner shop souvenir, Land Ark‘s alma mater, or Ian G.‘s from one of the first large-scale enthusiast test drive events.
However, the winner last week was returning champion TheJWT for an automotive hat with an amazing story behind it:
My Trail Motor Apex Racing baseball cap.
The very abridged version of the story is that TMAR basically showed up out of nowhere at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon with some ridiculously high budget builds (One was that Hakosuka with a NASCAR V8 built by Daigo Saito). Soon after that, they sponsored 4 of the most popular drivers in D1GP. Their budget was seemingly endless, despite it not being clear what the company actually did.
As it soon turned out, what their parent company (Trail Logistics) did was defraud millions of dollars from Rakuten. The owner and a few others involved went to jail and TMAR disappeared as quickly as it started.
In 2024 I was at D1 round 1 at Okuibuki and I got my hat signed by all four of the former drivers (who also happen to be four of my favorites) – Daigo Saito, Naoki Nakamura, Takahiro Ueno, and Hokuto Matsuyama. They were all amused and in good spirits about it, as far as I know they were just along for the ride and had no direct involvement.
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
That’s it exactly — an average price, and do not trailer it. Drive it — the single best way to appreciate your classic JDM car — even if it is across the country!
You haven’t driven your S2000 across the country? Why not? Properly taken care of, it’s actually very comfortable. After all, JDM cars took to everything from tiny street, to the Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route, and to the Touge very easily.
The drive will mostly be hundreds of boring miles, but with some research you can break it up with selected fun and scenic roads. This is your chance to experience the Tail of the Dragon (or better yet, its nearby cousins), Red Rock Canyon in NV, Route 66 across the middle, Natchez Trace Parkway starting in Nashville (actually, starting at the Loveless Cafe with a large dose of biscuits and some extras for later in the drive, after a visit to the Lane Motor Musuem where you’ll see the only S660 in the county along with it’s close relatives S600 and S800s)… and so much more.
And when you get to Car Week, tell them what you did. If there are some chips or dirt – those are wounds of honor! You did something that most have not.
At a Sunday drive event in Hong Kong once. Hong Kong being Hong Kong, anything from a 918 Spyder to a Singer can show up and you can tell who owns what by the watches worn by people there.
Amongst the crowd, there was a middle aged man, no wrist watch, with his son and his WiLL Vi. When the parking lot is full of supercars, nobody is paying attention to him. In between polishing details on the Vi, he was explaining to his son about the other cars, having pride in his, just having a father-son moment.
That’s respect right there.
Respect & compliment others of their efforts, no matter humble they may be. They brought it to a car show. It’s their pride & joy. Maybe they’ll return the respect.
Pebble Beach is all about the high end of the automotive spectrum, always has been, always will be. Sure you can drive whatever you want around the area, but beyond that, you will never, ever see a stock Supra on the lawn at the Concourse, just like you will never see a TR3, an MGB, a 240Z, a Plymouth or any other mass produced domestic “family” car.
Just how it is.
I agree. It’s West Coast, Monterey, Car Week, it’s going to be a very selective crowd. Whereas my 1991 Prelude was received with a lot of nostalgia and thumbs-ups at this past weekend’s Larz Anderson Cars and Coffee here in Boston Metro, I doubt it’d really attract much attention at Car Week.
With a Pur Sang T35 and a Daytona Super Clone.