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The afterparty is at all times the place it’s at, and after the great crowds skilled at Tokyo Auto Salon final Friday (after which proper throughout your complete weekend), hanging out on a chilly and windy rooftop carpark in Tokyo with a bunch of automobile nerds was a breath of recent air in additional methods than one.
Final 12 months’s Underground Tokyo Meet was a heady buzz of vehicles and lovers from throughout the globe. The occasion title could have had you considering it was totally underground within the sense of being secret, like a techno rave in an deserted quarry, however in actuality it was actually held in an underground carpark. Round 40 or 50 vehicles rocked up by invite solely, with a whole lot of spectators there to test them out.
I don’t typically get complications, however spending an prolonged period of time in a poorly-ventilated underground carpark as vehicles constantly cruised by had my eyes watering from the fumes and my head throbbing till mattress time. This time round although, the Underground Tokyo crew teamed up with NVRFUKNSUC and automotive way of life model Peaches to ramp issues up a notch.
A brand new location on a rooftop carpark in Tokyo’s Koto Metropolis ward was secured. There was loads of area and, most significantly, breathable air.
Having spent your complete day at Makuhari Messe, Rick and I arrived fairly late to the get together, lacking a particular look from the Nissan Hyper Power GT-R idea and likewise Nissan’s Skyline Tremendous Silhouette race automobile. Bummer. Nonetheless, there was loads to see – form of.
The rooftop location would have been additional superb if the parking space had overhead lighting, however sadly it didn’t. The organisers introduced alongside a couple of giant transportable lights, though they have been by no means going to light up the total website. A few folks had torches and there was the odd videographer round with an LED mild unit, however when you got here unprepared, you may need been wishing you’d eaten extra carrots the week prior.
Annoyingly, Rick appears to be uncannily secure together with his digital camera and might shoot proper all the way down to a 1-second publicity and nonetheless have his photos pin-sharp. I attempted my finest, however I may solely efficiently get all the way down to half a second. Nonetheless, I felt a way of satisfaction because it was significantly better than my common 1/twentieth of a second go-to shutter velocity for night time capturing.
A smorgasbord of 911s, GT-Rs, Evos (together with the unique reference automobile for The Quick And The Livid: Tokyo Drift Evo), Imprezas, RX-7s and all the things in between lined the rows of what would usually be parking for grocery-getters and minivans. 108 invited company in complete. Fairly particular.
The bustle of the group, the chilly winter air and the nice and cozy under-glow of tuner vehicles was an actual vibe.
The coated parking ranges beneath the rooftop have been crammed with spectator vehicles, and we discovered some beauties down there too. An actual combined bag.
All good issues should come to an finish although, and with simply 20 minutes left to run within the occasion the police confirmed as much as politely ask folks to depart, which they did.
Not that it actually mattered, as a result of the next night there was one other meet to take a look at. Keep tuned for that as our protection from Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 and all the opposite TAS week actions in Tokyo continues.
Toby Thyer
Instagram:Â _tobinsta_
tobythyer.co.uk
Extra Images by Rick Muda
Instagram:Â ardskellig
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