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Tokyo Auto Salon is like candy for your eyeballs

Weird and wonderful mods and customs cover the floor of this eclectic show

Driving
Feb 02, 2018  •  May 21, 2021  •  1 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Tokyo Auto Salon
Mitsuoka Orochi, the coolest/scariest supercar Japan ever produced.

Tokyo is the home of two major automotive events that are opposed in almost every way. One, the biennial Tokyo Motor Show, features the latest creations of all the major manufacturers, immersed in their visions of the future. The other, the Tokyo Auto Salon, is all about aftermarket parts, tuner shops, car magazines, race car builders and luxury car modders, and the latest iteration took place just last month at Makuhari Messe, just a few kilometers east of Tokyo. 

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If you are exclusively into cars with matching serial numbers, original paint and detailed history, this might not be the right place for you. On the other hand, you don’t have to be into flashy cars and custom kits made of body filler to enjoy the Auto Salon. Anything goes there and the extreme modifications that cars can receive will never leave you indifferent. One can only be in awe in front of a Lamborghini covered in Swarovski crystals, or a 400km/h street legal V12 powered Toyota Supra that has got its owner arrested all over the world. It might be stupid for some, interesting to others but, like a train wreck, looking away is hard. 

The Tokyo Auto Salon mixes all kinds of people and all kinds of styles – and a lot of weird.

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  1. Tokyo Auto Salon.
    This Lamborghini Murcielago could be the epitome of gaudiness.
  2. Tokyo Auto Salon
    "Super Eccentric Limousine Marchcram 911". Yes, that's the name. Built around a 1998 Nissan Micra.
  3. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Honda Z revival prototype: a lot bigger than the original but a nice homage nonetheless.
  4. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Toyota Will project by the Saitama Institute of Automotive Technology. Every year that school comes to the TAS with cars designed by students.
  5. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Old school Honda Vamos with tatamis in the bed for a relaxing time under the sun
  6. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Honda S660 racecar
  7. Tokyo Auto Salon
    These are called "Man-Vans" in Japan. Vans for men with a family who still want to drive manly things! I'm not even kidding. Toyota HiAce with a manual gearbox conversion, road legal and raced all around Japan.
  8. Tokyo Auto Salon
    When you love SailorMoon a bit too much...
  9. Tokyo Auto Salon
    NA Miata (Roadster in Japan) with a 1JZ-GTE inline-six swap.
  10. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Toyota Porte ready to get you to your local Hawaiian beach.
  11. Tokyo Auto Salon
    The interior of the Toyota Porte.
  12. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Speed Forme was a breathe of fresh air in this world of over modified cars with this 240Z.
  13. Tokyo Auto Salon
    Got wing?? Honda S660
  14. RE-Amemiya found this once abandoned Mazda Cosmo Sports, restored it, slapped a five-speed and a 13b rotary engine in it.
    RE-Amemiya found this once abandoned Mazda Cosmo Sports, restored it, slapped a five-speed and a 13b rotary engine in it.

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