Tokyo odaiba: Super Autobac

After my day at the Tokyo Auto Show I headed to a Super Autobac. partially because I had heard things about it and because I was walking right by it and this Prius threw me completely off guard.

Comming from a small town in the states I had never, ever seen this type of love given to such a ridiculed chassis.. I kinda hate to say it, but I kinda liked it.. imagine it like it wasn't called a Prius and it wasn't a quite slow Prius and imagine it performed like an evo or an STi if that were the case I would have really liked it but its not the case to I only kinda liked it... whats up haters

In case you were worried if that was the only car that caught my eye, I'll let you know that the Evo below was the car that initially caught my eye and then I walked over to the Prius because, like I said, I'd never seen anything

And then I saw another Prius.. with the wheels and the triple exit bumper exhaust and  the actual exhaust I'm sure this thing is a weapon on the track. Then I went inside because I couldn't handle it anymore.

So basically what I was picking up from this place is that it is like an auto zone or an oriely auto parts on but on the next level.

they had just about everything and anything you could want for your car, and considering that this place was n the heart of odaiba where some of the most incredible automotive events happen in the world i would have to be big.

The only thing I can relate this to is the store in the fast and the furious "The Racer's Edge" whre brian spilner worked "slingin' Parts for harry"

I came to Japan three months after purchasing my corolla and couldnt not buy the AE86 book in the upper right corner.

after buying it I headed back out and enjoyed some more Japanese Air Pumps in their natural habitat.

I really really liked this little GTO the white paint and gold wheel combo was next level stuff.

As I was walking away this MP4-12C drove in and I had to capture it. I can't belive how small it looked compared to the Porsche Panemara.

So that's my general experience at the autobacs. It was not disappointing.

Josh Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

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