Odaiba Tokyo: Toyota Museum.

After my day of shooting D1GP in Odaiba I was told by one of my indigenous friends that next we were headed to the the Toyota history museum. I was fully into going so we went. All in all I love this place. It glorifies everything Toyota historically inclined and includes other great brands which I'm sure Japan was competing with at the time that made some of their most historical vehicles.

After the history museum we went to the Toyota mega web, which is an interesting name I can't pinpoint the meaning to because it basically is a dealership with other exhibits. So here's a quick sum up of the cool stuff I saw.

This Ferrari Dino was the first thing to greet us in the history museum. First one I saw in person.

Next was a super clean Jaguar continuing the red theme.

I've got a soft spot for the old air cooled Vws because I had one for my first car, and still have it.

I'm surprised this speedster wasn't getting more of the spotlight. It was just kinda set in a hallway out of the way. I guess I can't speak for the Japanese but I really like these, and thought this would have gotten a bit more glory but i guess they hold that off for their countries cars.

Next was a good looking Toyota 200gt. Again first example I had ever seen in person and a fantastic example at that. I have some more shots I'll share on this one later. I just couldn't get enough of it.

I think this is a little Honda 200, might be something different. Either way it was a pretty cool little rig.

I always like seeing any Levin 86. We don't see to many here in the states and they are the cool thing to have.

The day that I went to the museum was like three days before back to the future day so the had a replica DMC looking pretty.

After making the lap of the upper floor we all headed down to the lower level with the mall giftshop and cafe. I could t help but notice a very cool looking mural of the WRC celica. Almost looks like it has wings.

First thing that greeted me on my way down stairs was no disappointment.

Remember what I said about Levins this just was to clean to not get a few better shots of.

Past the levin to the left of the bottom of the staircase they had a giftshop and cafe area. Check out doc from BTTF on the TV!

After the museum and cafe we headed out and over to the mega web.

This was basically a showroom with a bunch of Toyota vehicles and exhibits with aftermarket TRD stuff.

Of course we were greeted with a Toyota gt86. As much as losing scion kinda stinks in the states I'm glad we get a Toyota badge on our NZ6 chassis.

Up the stairs was the TRD display with a few of racecars from various series.

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And a little further in was all the TRD stuff.

Walls of it.

I really liked the look of this 86 on display really captures the essence of modifying one of these for a street-able track car.

The carbon roof, hood and trunk not only looked great on the car but reminded me of the carbon hood found on a very famous origional 86 chassis.

Although the new 86 does look very different in many ways form the old 86 it fully captures the essence of what the old 86 conceptualized and did so in a contemporary way.

This variant of the 86 is the GRMN. It comes with a bit of a boost in power and torque as well as some better suspention brakes and visual/areo upgrades seen.

Unfortunately these are only available in Japan.

This was the first RHD drivers seat that I sat in feeling a door on your right and having the shifter and E-brake on the left felt weird just sitting there im sure driving switched takes some getting used to.

After spending to much time in the TRD/racing section we moved on a bit and started to head out to get some Ramen at a local shop which brought us past a few more interesting exhibits. One of which was a Toyota Mirai which I had not interest in.

And a dirty old land cruiser looking pretty good and ready to go do some more cruising.

So in case you do get the opportunity to go to Japan I do fully recommend this, and keep in mind they constantly rotate exhibits so you'll defiantly see something at least a little different than what you saw here.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

Farm Animals; Goats, Roadrunners, Beetles and More.

The sixties and early seventies saw production of some of the thirstiest, prettiest, and fastest production Pumps to hit the American roadways. Over the years, with fuel prices fluctuating, and time taking its toll, these legendary Air Pumps have been left for only the few who care about them enough to locate them, and invest their precious time and resources into seeing that they are resurrected to their former glory.

This brings us to an undisclosed location to see what one Air Head has accumulated over the years. After introducing myself and breaking the ice with some wordage he first showed me his pride and joy.

An all original GMC 100 with a HYDRA-MATIC tranny and a new wood plank bed in the back.

If you look past the thick layer of dust that has accumulated over many moons of waiting to be fired up and driven, the old rig looks downright smashing.

This 100 series truck wasn't the flashiest of pick-ups back in the late forties, but a lot of time has gone into this old geezer and that is something to appreciate.

After showing me his GMC he walked me back outside and showed me this mess of a Plymouth Roadrunner. (Which I initially thought was a Plymouth Barracuda, you can see how much I need to brush up on my old Muscle car history). Just as he was about to explain more about it he got an important phone call and had to head back into his shop, leaving me to explore the premises.

I took this opportunity to peek inside the cab of the Roadrunner and saw what looked like a nice little addition to the already peppy Pump in the bay of the Roadrunner.

I then layed eyes on this sorry looking GTO, in addition to the Roadrunner this feller recently had a new engine and trans placed in it. All they need now is a fresh coat of paint and some minor parts to be road ready.

After getting my fill of the Goat and its cheese I walked back past the Roadrunner and noticed a relatively nice looking mustang in the shed.

The public safety announcement on this sun chewed 1987 Z28 caught my eye, #NOFATCHICKS

I was pleasantly surprised with how well the mustang looked, besides the obvious missing grill, it looked really clean and complete.

The contrast of a cherry old rig like this sitting in a run down shed has always intrigued me, let the building take the beating... I couldn't find any identification on those wheels but I enjoyed the look like a fat slice of Dutch oven cooked blueberry cobbler topped with a layer of whipped cream, on a lazy weekend out in the woods, while the tree leaves rustle in the slow breeze, and the sun warms the faces of the ones you love as it rests its head on the nearby mountain range... but I digress.

Beyond the Mustang there was this feller, who has quite obviously lacked the use of brakes in the past.

I started to notice a trend with the wheels, can't say they looked bad on the beetle either.

 As I walked back to the shop to say my good-byes to the tour guide, this 1967 ford caught my eye, and I'm Glad it did because this might be the best photo of the shoot.

So I'll leave you with that, the sunset of another day, that this old Ford has had to wait to once again feel the cold oil surge up and begin to circulate through it's cold veins as it sets of for another adventure.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

*NOTE: (all photos in this post were taken from an iPhone 4s)