Living in Holland has it’s downsides. One of the biggest is the weather which isn’t that good. We haven’t had a decent summer for ages and that’s exactly one of the reasons I don’t attend many meetings because usually the weather sucks! But there has been one meeting that was one my bucket list for quite a while now; The annual Japanse (Japanese) Import Meeting.
The weather forecast was pretty good so I decided to head out with a couple of friends. And I must be honest; the weather didn’t turn us down! It was a beautiful day!
Great weather was one thing but the reason to go had everything to do with those things on 4 wheels of course (and preferably from Japan)! I must admit, I wasn’t disappointed! Everything from aggressive looking Scoobies…
… to this brilliantly cambered Honda Civic. The Japanese would be proud!
It was a kind of day that you have every once in a while. A day where everything goes. A day to make new friends…
… and to catch up with some old ones! The first time I met forum member Tim (Timmaaah) was on the way back from Le Mans last year. We bumped into each other at a gas station and had a click right away. I’ve met him a few times after that but he never told me he had a giant tattoo of two pistons on his back! Wangan Warrior Johan (Kapitein Iglo) was kind enough to point Tim’s tatt out to me.
Tim is the owner of what I call a sleeper S13. It’s relatively stock on the outside but once you’ve seen what’s under the hood you will know what I mean with sleeper! I will get into detail on this car later on but let me just tell you it produces a healthy 450bhp.
One brand that caught my attention was Mitsubishi. The Subaru’s where out in force but the variety in Mitsubishi’s really stood out amongst the great amount of cars present! Grandpa gave acte de présence…
… as well as two of his sons …
… and a bunch of grandchildren! It’s good to see the Mitsubishi family in Holland is bringing the fight to the very big and tight Subaru community in Holland.
Stickers remain a big thing in any car community. Clearly the front lip of this Scooby (top) had seen better days sticker wise but I must admit that it gave a nice flair to the front of the car.
The Trolling sticker just made me LOL!
Now as you know by now I’m a sucker for proper VIP cars so when this Aristo rolled in, my Bippu heart jumped with joy! I suspect it rolled on air…
… because the beautiful HP wheels where tucked away quite far into the fenders. I like it… a LOT! I gave the owner a Wangan Warriors “Like” card but didn’t have the change to talk to him later on. If you read this; Give me a shout on Facebook!
Thanks to the variety of cars there was plenty to see. I really liked the “Go Baby Go” shift knob that originally could be found in Eleanor. And if you don’t know who Eleanor is you don’t belong in any car scene! The most heard sound of the day was the whistling of blow-off valves. I’ve never seen so many HKS bov’s in one place!
The day was slowly coming to an end…
… but cars where still rolling in!
As was Remy in his clean S14A on Panasports G7’s. A wheel can make or break a car but with wheels this rare and beautiful you just can’t go wrong!
And speaking of wheels, we’ll be doing a wheel special on Wangan Warriors pretty soon but I guess I just gave away what my favorite wheel is. And I must give a shout to Remy for doing a great job on restoring these beauties!
As I was about to call it a day I bumped into Jeroen from Jeroentje Tuning. Jeroen is responsible for some of the best looking and performing cars in the Dutch Time Attack competition. We all know the Jeroentje RX7 FD3S and I think everybody knows who he his. I think it has something to do with the fact that Jeroen is an all-round great guy who knows what he’s talking about and doesn’t like BS. Sitting on his lap is his son Thijs(je) who will carry on Jeroen’s legacy eventually! I must admit I got schooled on rotary engines by a 4.5 year old but just like his father, you just got to like the little guy!
It was a sunny day, with great people and some great rides! It’s a shame some people just can’t control themselves when they leave and just have to do a burnout or drive by like crazy without thinking of other peoples safety. Other than that…
It was a good day for Japanese car lovers in Holland!
– Allard van Grafhorst