The afterparty is at all times the place it’s at, and after the large 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 automotive nerds was a breath of contemporary 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 pondering 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 lots of of spectators there to test them out.
I don’t usually get complications, however spending an prolonged period of time in a poorly-ventilated underground carpark as vehicles constantly cruised via 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 life-style 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 social gathering, lacking a particular look from the Nissan Hyper Power GT-R idea and likewise Nissan’s Skyline Tremendous Silhouette race automotive. Bummer. Nonetheless, there was a lot to see – sort of.
The rooftop location would have been further superb if the parking space had overhead lighting, however sadly it didn’t. The organisers introduced alongside a couple of big moveable lights, though they had been by no means going to light up the complete website. A few folks had torches and there was the odd videographer round with an LED mild unit, however should you got here unprepared, you may need been wishing you’d eaten extra carrots the week prior.
Annoyingly, Rick appears to be uncannily steady along with his digital camera and may shoot proper right down to a 1-second publicity and nonetheless have his photos pin-sharp. I attempted my greatest, however I might solely efficiently get right down to half a second. Nonetheless, I felt a way of satisfaction because it was a lot better than my regular 1/twentieth of a second go-to shutter pace for evening taking pictures.
A smorgasbord of 911s, GT-Rs, Evos (together with the unique reference automotive 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 visitors in whole. 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 lined parking ranges under the rooftop had 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: _tobinsta_
tobythyer.co.uk
Further Images by Rick Muda
Instagram: ardskellig
