Japan Classic Track Day 2021
a culture that’s here to stay.
The term “JDM“ has continuously been used in the car scene for as long as I can remember, and everyone always seemed to have different ways of interpreting it. Whatever your interpretation may be, I think we can all agree that the JDM culture has cemented itself as a dominant part of the automotive scene. Japanese cars have always established a culture in this community, and owners have made it clear that it’s here to stay.
As we approach the colder seasons here in Canada, we are seeing our last few track days and automotive events before we brace ourselves for the cold winter months. Fortunately, I was able to make it to Japan Classic Track Day on September 26 at Shannonville Motorsports Park where old school Japanese cars gathered up for a nice little family reunion and a few rounds of tag around the track.
From time to time, I would catch myself reminiscing the days when I witnessed my first few special JDM cars. When I was a kid, I think my first ever exposure to the car modification and racing scene was the Fast & Furious franchise. Something about the sounds and the thrilling experience of adrenaline and speed got me hooked up, and it only continued to grow from there.
The track day was a special day to witness these same cars that got me hooked up to this crazy obsession. As I walked around, I would see parts of my childhood that was so nostalgic and entrancing as it felt like half of me was back in the past daydreaming about what these cars can do.
As I drove into the venue, the first thing that caught my attention from a far was Tim Hicks’ (from Industry Garage) custom built Datsun 240z from the photos above. Tim’s 240z is quite a masterpiece — the attention to detail and the level of craftsmanship that he has put into this car is unimaginable. The dry carbon that covers the entire car will have you wondering just how light it is, and the wild diffusers will have you question what you really know about track cars… at least that’s what it did for me.
I walked around the car and stared at it for a good couple minutes and I saw nothing left behind. It is impossible not to admire something when the product is clearly built out of passion… but we’ll talk more about his Z again later on.
It was incredibly amazing to see the 3 GTRs lined up together. While these cars look absolutely stunning parked, ripping through the tarmac, or rolling down the highway at cruising speeds, it’s easy to forget that these cars are made for a good beating. The GTRs didn’t make a name for themselves for simply looking pretty, but rather their dominance in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. It’s already rare enough to see one of these on the streets so seeing all three RB26 engines used for the purpose it was made for was a total reward.
When I hear “JDM cars,“ it’s impossible not to think about pop-up headlights. Thanks to the 70’s, manufacturers had to work around regulations which stated that headlights had to be of certain height from the road. To get around this, they decided to keep the front end low and sharp, and instead use headlights that open and close like that of the human eye. If you ask me, I’m glad they did. It just gives the car more personality. Could you imagine how these cars would look like if they were never invented in the first place? Looking at it now, I’ve learned to appreciate it even more as it’s aged so well. It’s nice to see the new fancy headlights with dancing LEDs and fun quirks, but it’s even better to be reminded of its own origins.
…and while we’re on the topic of pop-up headlights, we all know the RX-7 FD as one of the most iconic designs with a pop-up headlight. Here is one owned by Sanjay who built his RX-7 and swapped it with a dual clutch transmission. I have yet to speak to him about this interesting build but it was a pleasure seeing this lap around the track and hearing the rotary scream while quickly banging through the gears on the straight was absolute eargasm.
In case you were wondering who might have been behind this event, here are the respective builds of the organizers. The AE86 on the left is owned by Navin Pillai and the Datsun 240z on the right is owned by Tim Corbin. Both didn’t hold back on their builds as well with Navin’s AE86 being powered by a Honda K series engine, and Tim’s Datsun running on the same L28 engine but stroked to 3.0L.
Dave and Navin had set out to bring together a group of old school JDM cars together and they had achieved just that. I was incredibly busy drooling over the cars that were present, but at least I wasn’t so far gone that I had forgotten to take photos of the event.
After seeing the GTRs, you might have probably assumed that there had to be the Mark IV Supra. Looking at this car from the front end screams power with the big, bulky character, while looking at it from the side looks so clean and civil, yet ready to kill. I love it. No matter how you build your Supra, it will never fail to break necks and have any car lover instinctively shout the golden question: “IS THAT A…“ well you know what comes next. Personally, this is the theme I would go with if I were to have one of my own: maintain the original lines and body while adding small bits of carbon fiber accessories, a clean, nice set of TE37s, and of course some coil overs to adjust the height and improve handling.
In a sea of old school JDM cars, how could one not catch these timeless designs? The NSX — dubbed as the Japanese Ferrari is also an all time favorite of mine. I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that this car was first produced in the 90’s. The design is just so ahead of it’s time. A mid engine rear-wheel drive V6, built with an extremely lightweight chassis with again — a pop-up headlight makes for a perfect driving experience while considering comfort, practicality, and a mix of old school retro vibe is definitely going to stay as a must have in my endless list of cars for my dream collection.
Another interesting build was Miky’s Datsun 280z. Most of the car is covered in carbon fiber and weighs roughly 950kg while wearing RS Watanabe’s with 15x9 in the front and 15x10 in the rear. While this build still has a long list of parts and work to go through, it already looks insane with all the carbon fiber weaves dancing around the car when the sunlight hits the spot. Yes, all those black panels you see? Those are all carbon fiber. Stay tuned to see the progress of this build as we will be following closely to help Miky document this build.
It’s truly amazing to see how well people are brought together with one shared passion. Thanks to Tim and Navin, they had successfully gathered a group of people who had seen the values in the cars that have helped shape the future for us car lovers. Each car with its own character, theme, and story out and about burning some fuel and rubber. It was organized, lively, and everyone was respectful with each other’s builds. People from different places came together with respect and openness to share their own personal stories.
I’m sure this event has nowhere else to go but up. The rise of the younger JDM crowd, together with the veterans who have been in the game for so long will eventually meet halfway to form an even bigger community. I’m very much looking forward to next year’s event, and more importantly am looking forward to see more new faces and builds.