Fast Car – July 2019

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Words: Daniel Bevis Photography: Chris Frosin & Friends JAPFEST 2019

JAPFEST 2019

Japfest is massive. There’s no two ways about it, the show’s an absolute
whopper. The substantial Silverstone venue is just about big enough to
contain it all, but frankly the enthusiasm you guys show for modified
Japanese metal is so broad and all-encompassing, we wouldn’t be remotely
surprised to find that next year it had spread out over the whole of
Northamptonshire. Or is it Buckinghamshire? Silverstone’s a confusing place.
If you were at this year’s event (and if not, why not?), you’ll have found
yourself surrounded by a staggering array of diverse and unusual JDM metal

• plenty of fresh builds debuting at the show, along with many stalwarts
  of the show scene, previous feature cars, and lots more besides. Our own
  stand bristled with a sort of greatest hits of recent top-flight features, while
  our Banzai buddies across the way mirrored that with their own back-
  catalogue. Over in the pit garages, the editors of these fine automotive
  institutions went head-to-head in their scintillating hatchback build-off
  (plenty more of that to enjoy in the coming months), and the club stands
  this year were frankly huge. It was literally impossible to count the number
  of Imprezas, Civics and MX-5s in attendance (and that’s not hyperbole,

there genuinely aren’t enough numbers even when we add all of our

fingers together), and the showings from the more niche offerings were

equally impressive: obscure kei cars, oddball turbocharged luxury saloons,

unexpected drift missiles, you could walk around the show in constant

circles and find new things to enjoy on every loop. In fact, that’s exactly what

we did for the entirety of the show.

Over at the sprint test, entrants ranged from the logical contenders such

as EP3 Civics and Mitsi Evos of various generations, to more lateral choices

like the Suzuki Cappuccino and CRX Del Sol. And the drifting? Oh man, the

drifting was awesome – an AE86 with a turbo’d Lexus V8 makes a hell of

a noise, as does an S-body Nissan with a Chevy LS, and don’t even get us

started on the brap-brapping rotaries... all of which left the circuit wreathed

in delicious tyre smoke, ready for the hardcore faithful to blow it all away

with countless Fast Car readers taking to the track in their own project cars.

And best of all – it didn’t rain!

We’ll be ready to do it all again at Donington Park on July 13th – see you

there, yeah?