WEBMINING> Créme Fresh Levin!
While some of the other members of the Motor Mavens Crew are busy putting together their photos from this weekend’s Formula D Pro Am event, I thought I’d show post this scan of a car I’ve been admiring.
There are some blogs that I check out frequently, and I came across this scan from a 1999 Battle Magazine that Rob from Roadster:DRIFT posted up. The AE86 Levin has always been one of my favourite cars, so when I saw this, my jaw dropped. To some this might just be another Levin, but for me looks wise this is the PERFECT Levin! Just clean and simple with a Goodline front bumper and bonnet, TRD rear wing, and a few nice subtle touches like the kouki spec rear bumper, foglights minus the grill, and what looks like stock arches rolled and flared. It’s also sitting on a set of gorgeous RS Watanabe Type R wheels in 14x8J -6.
Like I said before, for me personally, this is the perfect Levin. But AE86s are cars that can have so many different styles applied to them and I’m sure any fan of the AE86 has their favourite. We’d love to hear from our readers what your favourite style is or even a particular car e.g., Katsuhiro Ueo’s famous D1GP Trueno.
Let us know!
:: Daniel Bridle
ARCHAEOLOGY> Honda Love at Nisei Showoff
Reppin Los Angeles... is the Phaze 2 crew, bringin it hard with some of the sickest Hondas at the show. Phaze 2 is all about slammed cars with aggressive offset and stretched tires, and they all seem to have contrasting color engine bays with super clean wire tucks. They floss it hard too - they all rocked their cars hoodless, so other crews would realize just how much effort they would need to put in to get to the Phaze 2 level. Read more...
CENTER STAGE> Rare and Refined, VIP Infiniti M45
VIP originated with Japanese Yakuza members modifying their cars with dish rims, clean body kits, and limo tint. Anytime a Yakuza boss rolled down the street you would know to get out of the way! Justin Wu, the owner of this particular 2003 M45 may not be a Yakuza boss, but he definitely is gangster, and here's why. Read more...
COVERAGE> JDM Allstars at Wembley Stadium
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: My name is Daniel Bridle, I’m 17 at the end of this month, and I’ve been taking photos since my grandfather gave me an old film camera when I was a little kid. Read more...
WEBMINING> Was INXS the first group of JDM Insiders?
Don’t try to front and say you’re old-school JDM just because you saw an Option magazine way back in 1998. Just as the title says, kids: Australian band INXS was down with Japanese car culture before you were even born. Released in 1984, the video for INXS’ Original Sin brought JDM staples like dekotora and bosozoku to Western TV screens long before anyone outside of Japan knew what either of those things were. Watching this video reminds us that we need to hit up a dekotora show the next time we’re in Japan…
Only low-res rips of the video exist online, but you can catch the video on VH1 Classic from time to time. In the meantime, here’s a low-res version for you to enjoy.
:: Justin Kaehler
