10 JDM Icons You Can’t Miss at FuelFest Japan
You may be familiar with FuelFest in the United States, but the Japan meet is something else and each year, FuelFest Japan never fails to bring some of Japan’s most outrageous JDMs. Hosted at the iconic Fuji Speedway racetrack, the event welcomes over one thousand cars from all over Japan, for drifts, loud revs and drag races on track. FuelFest Japan transforms the Fuji racetrack into a small JDM paradise, bringing out niche JDM subcultures, one-off JDM creations, famous tuners and some of the most accurate movie car replicas. From our favorite Fast and Furious cars to unique custom builds, here are the ten best JDMs from this year’s FuelFest Japan.
10
Suzuki Twin “R34 Skyline GT-R”
Earlier this year at the Tokyo Auto Salon, one tiny car made big waves across the JDM community when Japanese tuner Rocket Bunny showcased a tiny R32 Skyline replica, based on an old Suzuki Twin kei car. Though slightly surreal to look at, you can have Rocket Bunny build your own “Twin-Skyline.” As this mini-R34 proves, the tuner also expanded its Twin kit to other Skyline generations. The paint is accurately close to the R34 GT-R’s Wangan Blue and while the Twin appears to keep its kei car engine (repainted in gold), a turbocharger occupies all of the remaining space in the engine bay, as the air filter shows.
9
Subaru BRZ
The Subaru BRZ in The Fate of the Furious is perhaps one of the more underrated sports cars to appear in the franchise. Driven by Little Nobody (played by Scott Eastwood), the “little” sports car is a fitting car to Eastwood’s character. The navy blue BRZ comes with a Rocket Bunny widebody kit, with aggressive front and rear fenders and the signature Rocket Bunny front bumper with speed holes. Small, nimble and affordable, the Subaru BRZ could be the best budget JDM to own from the Fast and Furious franchise.
8
Nissan President VIP Style
Each year, FuelFest Japan highlights different, lesser known subcategories of Japan’s car culture, and an impressive community of VIP car owners showed up this year. Japan’s VIP subculture started in the Kansai area and is often little known outside of the country. VIP cars focus on slammed Japanese luxury sedans. Often fitted with deep dish wheels and tinted windows, VIP cars often tend to keep their look somewhat understated, aside from the extreme stance. The cabin is where it’s at. Often completely redone, owners tend to heavily lean into the VIP and luxury styling, with leather or velvet seats, marble imitation details, cushions and pillows for rear passengers, and so on. And while the Toyota Century is the ultimate VIP car choice, the often-too-forgotten Nissan President luxury sedan stands out as a VIP car, with its design reminiscent of the older generation Lincoln Town Car.
7
Nissan Silvia (S14)
In the Fast and Furious franchise, cars driven by the characters of Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner often tend to steal the show, but the Nissan Silvia, driven by Letty Ortiz, deserves more recognition. The S14 Silvia is first seen at the beginning of The Fast and the Furious, when Dom’s crew pulls up in front of Toretto’s Market & Cafe. The Silvia is seen again in the nighttime street racing scene and driven during Race Wars against another driver’s Mazda RX-7. Though the S15 Silvia gets most of the attention today, the S14 is equally praiseworthy with its relatively lightweight chassis and its SR20DET engine carried over and refined in the S15.
6
Nissan Fairlady Z (Datsun 240Z)
With many of the scenes in Fast X set abroad, the movie features fewer Japanese cars than other Fast and Furious movies. Hence why the yellow Datsun 240Z in Fast X is one of the movie’s most memorable cars, as it pays tribute to the franchise’s JDM and street-racing origins. The 240Z is driven by Isabel Neves during a street racing scene in Rio and stands out with its wide fenders and its oversized hood-mounted turbo. In the movie, the car is said to be powered by an RB26 engine, well-known for powering Skyline GT-Rs.
5
Nissan Skyline GT (R33)
With memorable JDMs such as Brian’s R34 Skyline GT-R, Suki’s pink Honda S2000 or Roman’s Mitsubishi Eclipse, it can be difficult to pay attention to other iconic JDMs in the Fast and Furious movies driven by supporting characters. Yet before Brian’s silver-with-blue-stripes GT-R, a yellow R33 Skyline GT-R appeared in the firts movie. Driven by Leon, the yellow R33 first appears alongside Letty’s Silvia, at Toretto’s Market & Cafe. Aboard his GT-R, Leon monitors police while Brian and Dom go racing. Though this Skyline on display at FuelFest is not a GT-R but a GT, the decals closely match the movie car. The kit and wheels on this GT have all been done by VeilSide; a rare sight on a Skyline.
4
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
In 2 Fast 2 Furious, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII gets introduced by the scene that we know all too well, with Brian famously asking: “what are we driving?” Replacing the damaged R34 Skyline GT-R at the beginning of the movie, the Lancer Evolution stays for the rest of the story, while supporting character Roman Pearce drives a purple Mitsubishi Eclipse. Though Evos are far from uncommon sights here in Japan, you’ll rarely find one that replicates the movie car with such accuracy. Often overshadowed by the Nissan Skyline GT-R and the Toyota Supra that Brian drives, the Evo features the iconic Mitsubishi 4G63 engine, and offers world-class rally performance. In short, the perfect car to run away from the police in any terrain in Fast and Furious scenes.
3
Suzuki Carry Kei Truck
While you can usually expect your fair share of JDM movie car replicas at FuelFest Japan, you are also bound to run into an odd, Frankenstein-like JDM creation as you keep walking around the Fuji Speedway racetrack. Like this yellow Suzuki Carry kei truck. What originally served as an official, city-owned construction kei truck was bought by a private owner and turned into a monstrously quick machine. The owner completely removed the original Suzuki engine, replacing it with an engine borrowed from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R and placing it onto the truck bed due to lack of space in the original engine bay. The engine is a 1,199cc inline-four engine that produces 178 hp at 10,500 rpm and 98 lb-ft of torque at 7,500 rpm, and since it is a motorcycle engine, it does not have a reverse gear. A used barbecue dome lid protects the engine in case of rain, and the kei truck was even fitted with a fully-functional NOS tank, making it very much aligned with the Fast and Furious philosophy.
2
Toyota Supra (The Fast and the Furious)
The bright orange Toyota Supra Mk4 is arguably the most iconic car in The Fast and the Furious, as Brian and Dom transform the wreckage from a 10-minute car into a 10-second street racing machine powered by Toyota’s legendary 2JZ-GTE. The orange Supra has also given us the memorable scene where Brian races Dom and his Dodge Charger R/T, handing over the keys to the Supra to help Dom escape the police.
While Cody Walker has also driven other JDMs such as the Skyline GT-R, this Supra movie car replica was his car of choice for this year’s FuelFest Japan. Because the Supra in the movie was made for the US market, it was left-hand drive. However, this Supra at FuelFest Japan being a Japanese model, Cody drove the right-hand drive model onto the track which was fun to notice.
1
Toyota Supra (Furious 7)
The Toyota Supra that appears at the end of Furious 7 holds far more meaning than other Fast and Furious hero cars, as the white Supra was one of Paul Walker’s personal cars. Serving as an emotional tribute to Paul Walker and his legacy as Brian O’Conner, the Supra shares its final drive alongside Dom’s Dodge Charger. For this year’s FuelFest Japan, organizers got a white Toyota Supra and a Dodge Charger R/T to drive together on the Fuji Speedway racetrack, recreating an emotional and memorable scene for all Fast and Furious fans.
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