Motor Australia – September 2019

YOKOHAMA

ICHIKAWA

TOK YO

CITY

THE WANGAN FREEWAY

Tokyo’sBayshoreRoute

IT’SNOToftentheroadwe’reprofilingis justa

freeway,butthat’sexactlywhatplayedbackdrop

tothehigh-speedTokyostreetracersofthe’80s

and’90s.The“Wangan”is a multi-lanemotorway

stretching70kmalongTokyobayandfranklywecan

seetheappealofgoingasfastaspossibleonwhatis

otherwisea dullandfeaturelessmotorway.

T O K

YO

B

A

Y

freeway.ButDaikokuFutoisnotjustanycarpark.Nestledlow
inlikea bird’snestofswirlingconcreteon-andoff-ramps,it’s
aboutasbigasa soccerfieldandflankedatoneendbythe
brightlightsofa yetanotherJapaneseconveniencestore.But
thisisholygroundforTokyocarlovers.Showupabout8.30pm
onanygivennightand,if you’relucky– thereisnoguarantees

• you might be treated to a Cars & Coffee-esque feast of
  classicJapanesecars,Italianexoticsandeverythinginbetween.
  Beware,however– it’snoteasytogetto,ortogetoutof,andnot
  justbecauseoftheincrediblecarscomingandgoing.
  Thatwasourexperiencethenightwearrived.I amoverjoyed,
  andrelievedit mustbesaid,thatI’venotbroughtphotographer
  Ellentoa darkcarparkwithnothingbutJapanesetruckdrivers
  scratchingtheirnether-regions.Thereare720Ss,Aventadors,
  RX-7sofeveryvintage,countless180SXsandSilvias,Subaru
  WRXs and, delightfully, a white, replica ‘Hakosuka’ 1970s
  GT-Randa whiteR34GT-R.Despitethelanguagebarrierwe
  takeadvantage ofthewell-known Japanesefriendlinessand
  generosityandmanagetocajolebothintoflankingourbrilliant
  blueR35fora shot.Bothownersknowwhatit isandarevisibly
  excitedastheypokeaboutit.Althoughtheteenagesonofthe
  R34thinksI’mreferringtoMidNightClub,thecomputergame,
  whenI ask,ratherthantherealthing.Concerning.

Forthenextthreehours,carsblareinandoutofthecar

park,theirloudexhaustsheardbutnotseenonthehigh-rising

concreterampsallround.It’sa greatatmosphere,veryrelaxed.

Asa Japanesecarloverwho’swantedtocomehereformanya

year,it’sanoverwhelmingplacetobe.

Andthenwespotthem.

Ina far-offcornerofthegiant,shadowycarpark,inthelight

oftheconveniencestore,isaredFerrariF430Scuderiaand

whitePorsche 993 Carrera,bothwithenginecoversup.Onthe

frontofthePorscheisa stickerreading“MidNightCarSpeciall”.

Twowell-dressedJapanesemenintheirfortiesloiterbythe

cars.TheyspeakgoodEnglish,too.TakandShintellusthe

enginecoversareuptoletthecarscooldownfaster.I cuttothe

chaseasquicklyasI can.“WereyoumembersoftheMidNight

Club?”Yes,theysay,makingnoefforttohideit.Theytellus

thehighspeedracesaren’ta thinganymore,butmanyofthem

remainfriendsregardless.“What’syourtopspeedrecord?”I

havetoask.Witha smirk,Takpullsouthisphoneandshows

usablurry,shakyvideo ofaPorschespeedometer nudging

300km/h.I notethatit wastakenin2015...

AnothercarpullsupandI havetocalmmyselfdown.It’sa

redPorsche 964911 CarreraRS,theearly’90sprecursortothe

moderndayGT3RS.It hasa “MidNightCarSpeciall”stickeron

➜

ABOVE Part of

the 50th Anniversary

Edition treatment is a

clammy-grey leather

and suede interior

RIGHT Speeds of

more than 320km/h

were rare even

amongst the wildest

supercars of the

’80s and ’90s, let

alone with tuned cars

built for high-speed

runs on the streets.

Our GT-R test car is

limited to 180km/h as

is compulsory for all

new Japanese cars

124 september 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

WHILE THE CLUB AND ITS ANTICS ARE GONE, THE OUTLAW