I’ve always been a huge fan of classic Japanese vehicles. The original styling of them and how they were re-imagined by car enthusiasts years later was always appealing to me. I think it is also very important to keep an eye on the older cars because they laid the foundation for our tuning community today. Without the people and cars of the past, we would have no present and certainly would not have the groundwork to create for the future. It’s always great to see Japanese classics still in incredibly immaculate condition after decades and decades and incredibly interesting to see what people do with them when they incorporate modern technology and parts into these old cars. I was bummed to have missed the past two years of the event because I’ve had prior commitments but when I found out the date of this year’s JCCS event, I made sure to mark it on my calender and keep the day free so that I could check it out. It’s not like your average car show in that you’ll see a wide variety of vehicles of all makes and models. At JCCS, you’re likely to see mainly Toyotas, Nissans, and Mazdas, all in their later years of existence. Hondas have never made a very big presence at this event until JCCS went out and made an effort to incorporate the brand by inviting Honda and the cars from the American Honda collection out to the event. This year, there was a better Honda presence, but it was still not “strong” in comparison to the flood of Toyotas and Nissans. It’s cool to see Hondas there but I mean, when you think of old Japanese classics, you don’t really think of the Honda brand…not just yet anyway. Hondas were seemingly from a different generation and built by a younger generation. As such, most of these early to late ’90s vehicles weren’t really thought of as classic cars. Maybe in another decade or so, we will really start to consider them a true Japanese classic but for the most part, it seems a little premature to inject the Honda brand into the JCCS event. I appreciate the effort by the JCCS staff to bring forth a Honda presence into the show but I still don’t know how I feel about seeing EF Civics at JCCS. On the other hand it’s pretty cool that the EF chassis is starting to get that level of respect from the old school tuner community. After all, it gets a little boring and repetitive only seeing the old Honda N600s and CVCCs at the show because they look basically the same every year….
Even still, I really like the JCCS show. It is in its ninth year now and I don’t see this show going anywhere but up. Attendance was great this year and as early as I went, there were already hoards and hoards of people packing into the Long Beach venue. The vibe is just very different at this event. There is a bit of an older crowd and as such, you won’t hear loud booming house or hip hop music being played. You get a touch of everything from the past and it feels like you’re walking around in a supermarket because of the soothing tones from the speakers. The older crowd also means that people are a little bit more respectable. You won’t see people acting stupid or trying to be braggadocios in any way. They are just there to hang out and enjoy each other’s company. There really isn’t that competitive vibe there where people are only there to specifically win an award. Another huge difference between JCCS and other shows is that it ends earlier than most. I’ve missed the last couple of years because this event ends by 3 pm. The event starts at 9 and promptly ends at 3 so if you like to sleep in, you’re likely to miss most of the show. This is probably due to the fact that the people who attend the show are older and have families and have other things to do besides hang out at a car show until the early evening hours…
Because it is a Japanese CLASSIC Car Show, not a whole lot changes from year to year. You’ll see some new builds pop up and all but for the most part, things stay relatively untouched. Besides the influx of Hondas at the event, most of the cars you see at JCCS are probably cars you’ve seen before if you have gone to a JCCS event in the past. The beauty is maintaining these classics and keeping them in their immaculate state. It isn’t like the car shows we are used to where guys change their set-ups completely after every event. The beauty is both preservation and ingenuity here. You create and you maintain that hard work that you put into the car. I personally love going to these shows because I get to see some beautifully executed classics and I also get to see very rare Japanese tuner wheels and parts that I may not see anywhere else. I love the idea of maintaining that rarity that exists and being able to see that some of these guys went through the effort of seeking out these parts that most have probably never heard of in this generation. Some of the stuff you see at JCCS is stuff you’ve only ever read of previously and it is awesome to be able to witness this stuff in person. I’ll admit, it’s a little bit of a bummer to see so many Rota wheels and replica parts at JCCS. It seems like every year there is more and more of it and it is kind of a let down but it is also a different crowd of enthusiasts. These guys either don’t know or just don’t care if they have knock-off wheels and parts. Some are supporting their native countries and bringing these parts into the shows to advertise for them. I don’t know…when I go to a JCCS show I kind of expect to see the rare stuff and don’t care at all for the Rotas and XXRs, etc. I think it ruins a build when you put so much money into the whole car and making sure everything is perfect and then throwing on some replica wheel. But I digress, I’d rather not think about it and so I just ignore these cars. I cover only the stuff that catches my eye and interests me so you won’t be seeing any of it here. Well, okay, there is maybe a little bit but only in the instances when I think the build is unique enough to surpass the idea that it has some replica parts on it…
Enjoy the photos. Lately, I’ve been really happy with how my photos are coming out and I think I’m finally getting the hang of using a camera, haha. There is about three parts so it won’t be a huge set like the Kday event but there is still a good amount of detailed content…
Kicking the JCCS ’13 coverage off with this beautifully done S30Z at the Motul booth on Panasport wheels with meaty Toyo R888 rubber…
One of my immediate favorites the moment I arrived at the event was this Datsun 510. Love the execution with the orange color and the contrasting blue pinstriping as well as the modern Volk Racing RE30 wheel with custom outer orange striping. It just looks simple amazing. I have more shots of it later including a engine bay shot and all so stayed tuned for that…
Mazda RX2 on old school Epsilon mesh wheels. Epsilons were all the rage at JCCS 2013. You’d be lucky to see one or two sets of these at your average import car show but they were everywhere at this show…
Datsun 510 wagon featuring a carb’d Rotary swap on black Epsilon wheels…
Bright green 1971 Mazda R100 also Epsilons…
Rarely seen ’74 Mazda pick-up truck…
Kenmeri Skyline 2000GT on new Fatlace wheels that are produced by AME/Enkei…
First generation Toyota Celica GT on SSR Formula Mesh complete with SSR caps…
Badass Toyota Starlet on SSR MKII wheels with a custom HKS turbocharged 4A-GZE motor. The GZE motor is supercharged from the factory and it looks like this Starlet might be twin-charged (Turbo and Supercharger)…
TE27 Corolla with 2TG motor swap…
The legendary TRD Tosco magnesium wheel…
This Z was looking very reminiscent of the “Devil Z” from the Japanese Wangan Midnight series…
1971 Nissan Skyline with RB26DETT swap…
KP61 Toyota Starlet widebody with 2.0L 3S-GE swap that has individual throttle bodies utilizing Weber adapters…
This Corolla on 13-inch Compomotive Mesh wheels was just recently completed by P.J. Bonafacio in time for the JCCS event…
Period-perfect Datsun Z….
I thought this Datsun truck looked really good on Nismo wheels produced by Rays Engineering that were originally meant for the Xterra…
Always good to see an immaculate set of Work Ewing Fins…
1971 Toyota Celica with some Techno Phantom replica wheels…
1975 Toyota Corolla with a wild supercharged 1UZ-FE V8 engine swap…
Another clean Toyota Corolla on TRD Toscos…
JCCS 2013 marked the first time in which I finally got to see the Spoon Sports EA-T Civic in person. The Spoon E-AT has been all over the East Coast touring with Honda Day but made it out to California just four days before JCCS. Go Tuning Unlimited has possession of the car now and they tell me that it will be out here for awhile…
It was cool to see a piece of Japanese tuning history in detail and Aaron from Go Tuning was nice enough to hand the keys over to me so I could have free reign to get whatever shots I wanted of the Group A-spec E-AT….
Under the hood is a 1.6L ZC motor that’s been built and makes around 230HP with some pretty beefy cams…
Center-locking 15×8(F), 15×6.5(R) Enkei wheels. Behind the front wheels are custom Nissin brakes..
Not gonna lie, it felt pretty cool to have the keys of the E-AT and to be able to pop the doors open to get a better glimpse of the interior…
Spoon steering wheel that probably has a ton of old Japanese dude sweat on it and a ton of history. If this steering wheel could speak, it’d say “Please wash me”….haha…
The stock cluster has been removed and replaced by custom Nippon Denso gauges…
Spoon Sports carbon kevlar bucket seat…
A little bit of classic Japanese Engrish… “Please Keep Your SAFTY Driving!”….
The ever timeless and recognizable Spoon Sports livery…
The rear calipers are Nissin-produced Mugen pieces that look like they originally came from a sport bike…
What was surprising to me, especially due to its age, is how well-kept the car was. It’s been all over the country it seems now and spent a ton of time in Japan and it is still in great condition…
JCCS 2013 marked the official debut of the Rywire E-AT to the event. This was the first, but definitely not the last time, you’ll see the Rywire E-AT at a Japanese Classic Car Show. While the Spoon E-AT is rich in history, the Rywire E-AT is rich with modern innovation with a retro flair. It’d be nice to be able to shoot the two of these cars together one of these days. Maybe I can make something happen…
The controversial rat-style Civic Wagon that was featured on Speedhunters a while back. I remember when it was posted and how much of a shit storm it caused with its viewers. Definitely not to my taste or liking but I appreciate the effort. It looks like it was well thought out and I actually have a couple more shots of it that I’ll post up later…
Like I said earlier, it was a little odd to see the EF chassis represented at JCCS as a “classic car”. I find it odd to me that they have the EF but stil don’t allow the S13 chassis into the event as a classic, especially considering how they are from the same production years. Maybe they want to prevent the large groups of beat-up drift S13s but there are definitely some really clean ones out there. I guess it would be hard to discriminate and not allow the drifter, beat-up ones from coming while still making it okay for the clean resto-modded S13s to show…
CR-X with EF8 SiR front end, Wilwood brakes, and black Volk Racing CE28s…
Another CR-X with JDM EF8 front, this one on white Mugen RnR…
Really clean 1st generation Honda CR-X that looks like it rolled right off the showroom floor…
1984 Mugen CR-X Prototype that currently resides in the secret Honda Collection Hall that I actually got to visit not that long ago. This Mugen CR-X actually has quite a bit of history because it is proof that Honda of America once tried to introduce the Mugen brand to America. They had an entire program where any Honda dealership could order and install Mugen products and some were even certified “Mugen Performance Centers”. While it was a great idea, it was a little too far ahead of its time and the program was shut down after just three years of existence. Luckily, the program did bring over some really cool Mugen stuff and made it possible for this CR-X Prototype to exist. If you ever had a chance to see this car in person, consider yourself lucky if you are a true Honda guy, you witnessed a piece of automotive history…
That’s a wrap for Part 1. Here’s a shot of Steve’s AE86 Corolla with Levin front end conversion. You guys should all be familiar with this piece of art by now. It recently got a full Mil-spec engine harness done by Rywire and the bay looks as good as ever….
Make sure to come back for more. There is still quite a bit of awesome stuff to cover so stay tuned-in!…
those kenmeri’s are not gtr’s. it is extremley popular for some reason to make gtr “clones” down to the badges. a true GTR has a s20 engine. also worth noting there were only 197 kenmeri gtr’s produced. lord knows how few are left.
The green Celica that you said has “techno phantom replicas” is actually sitting on Riverside Riverge wheels I believe.
I think that the green Celica you said is on Techno Phantom replicas is on actually on Riverside Riverge replicas. They look pretty similar though.
I don’t believe they are. The caps that they had on it said “AR” and the final finish doesn’t look very good up close.
Well I mean replicas of Riverside Riverge wheels. I have a set of Techno Phantoms and they are more of a sharp star. Of course I may be wrong though, I wasn’t there to get a closer look.
nice coverage Joey!