Chp4 – Not as it seems…

As Rob woke up, dressed, and went down to see if the paper had arrived, he found a picture album in front of his door. He picked it up on his way back and went back inside. Curiously he sat down and opened the album. It started with a picture of four guys standing next to each other laughing. They were all wearing old T shirts and overalls, some up to their wastes, some all the way on. The next page showed a small garage with a couple of cars in front of it. He saw a black Datsun 260 coupe, a white Mazda RX4 coupe, a silver Mitsubishi Scorpion*, and a Green Toyota TE27 Corolla. The next showed them working on their cars. The whole album was full of these pictures, but with different cars over time. It seemed to be a kind of timeline from the eighties. The last page showed three of the guys again, this time they looked a bit older. They where holding a picture of the missing guy. “No way” Rob thought suddenly focusing on one of the guys in the picture, “that’s Yoshua!”.
Yoshua is the guy living downstairs. He’s in his early fourties, has dark, shoulder length hair, and green eyes. He really looks older than he is, probably cause of the small gotee he has. Yoshua owns a Honda city, but he had told Rob awhile ago that he was looking to sell it. Rob quickly looked through the pictures again. It seemed Yoshua had owned the black Datsun 260 Coupe. Some pics showed him working extensively on the engine: cleaning, fine tuning, working the pistons and the gearbox. It definitely looked like it was fast. It had some nice multispoke deep dish rims which Rob could not identify.
He was very excited by the fact that the guy below him loved cars as much as Hiroki and he did, so he quickly took a shower, dressed and went down stairs to get the story from Yoshua.
As Yoshua opened the door Rob held up the album, “Very cool!” he said smiling. Yoshua smiled and let him in. “I thought you would like it, has Hiroki seen it?”. Rob said he hadn’t, so he went to go wake Hiroki up and told him to get down there. After five minutes they were all together talking. “Well I wanted you guys to see the album for two reasons. For one, I loved cars as much as you guys do and second I wanted to warn you guys. I see you guys working on your cars and going out almost every Saturday. It was pretty obvious, the highway, am I right?”. “Yea, but why?” Hiroki answered. “Well, my friends and I used to race as well. Of course we started like you guys, a nice pair of rims, maybe a different exhaust and some new springs. But then you want more, its like an addiction. So, there came some new cams, pistons, etc, basically everything we could afford. We became faster and faster and soon we started thinking about really becoming a team. We decided to become Team Bird Cage. We used to run the highways around Yokohama, mostly because we all lived there. One night a team from Isehara, The Black Darts, came over and challenged a couple of teams to a touge race. We were one of the teams that were challenged. Of course we agreed and the the day of the race came soon. As a friend of mine, Jinsu, the one with the corolla, was getting ready to race I felt there was something wrong. A couple of cars had gone down the mountain just before the race started. This was weird because they already had people standing at the base of the mountain warning traffic. When both cars had left the starting line it was a game of waiting. I had gotten into my car quickly to chase because I wasn’t sure what to think. About half way I saw something horrific. The guard rail was ripped apart, something that hadn’t been there when they had gone up. As I stopped the car, I saw smoke rising up. It was the corolla which caught fire. He was trapped and couldn’t get out. I tried to climb down the side but I couldn’t get a grip on the brick side. I could hear him screaming, but I couldn’t get to him.” Yoshua stopt for a brief second and closed his eyes, “My point is, racing is dangerous. Don’t go out without knowing the risks and don’t think its all fun and games. Racing is for real and people can get hurt.” Hiroki and Rob sat in silence for a moment and thought it through as Yoshua got up and got something to drink. “Pepsi anyone?”. As they drank the Pepsi, Rob and Hiroki had both asked question about Yoshua’s past. It seems they had a small garage in Yokohama where they tuned and repaired cars. He also had some friends that still owned garages and some even went on to become famous for their tuning. Eventually they started talking about the future. Yoshua wanted to set up a shop soon and Hiroki and Rob were ready to join him if he did. Some of his friends could hook him up with some cheap second hand tools and get him some deals on supplies. He just needed a good location, but this was nothing to worry about.

Garage Redox was born…

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*also known as Sapporo or Galant Lambda

Chp3 – A new start…

Three months later…

Rob had done a variety of things after he bought his car. The first was finding a job because the money was running out fast. He asked around in Ameyoko street if there were any employees needed. He eventually found a job at as a parts runner at a local parts warehouse. He basically drove a Daihatsu Hijet all day delivering stock parts to various garages. This got him some money to start fixing the apartment. The first thing he bought was a new mattress and some laminate floors. Then he painted the rooms a nice warm color and the place was basically fixed. A couple of days ago he could buy a second hand couch from his boss and used the Hijet to bring it home. Because the place was in a reasonable state now, he could start working on the car some more.
Today was Saturday and he had a day off. The car received a nice wash and wax revealing the very glossy, almost pearl white color. “Just need some wheels cause these steelies are embarrassing it .” Rob said to himself. “Wow it looks great!” a voice said behind him. Rob turned around seeing Hiroki. Hiroki was just a year older than Rob and had moved into the apartment above him 2 weeks ago. Rob had seen a AE92 Toyota Corolla Levin pull up and park in the designated spot for that apartment. As he was interested he had gone down and introduced himself. They had been friends since that day. “Oh, hey thanks” Rob said while smiling, “it doesn’t look half as great as your car though”. Hiroki laughed, “Let’s get you some new wheels, then it’ll come close”. They got into the Levin and sped of to the nearest Super Autobac. “Don’t worry, ill get you some nice wheels for cheap, I know some people here” Hiroki said as he parked the car. They walked to the garage area and saw a bunch of second hand wheels. “Well, start digging, just call me if you find something.” Rob smiled and said “pinch me please, I think I’m dreaming”. After skimming some of the wheels quickly he couldn’t decide between three sets of wheels. A set of Enkei R02, a set of Loversoul /Classic Spirits(the word DAMD was shown on the rims edge), and a set of GAB Sports All White wheels. The Enkei R02 were the lucky ones eventually. Some nice four spoke wheels, they really fit the car great with their late 80’s/ early 90’s look. They got the wheels and went back to the apartment. The wheels went on immediately and the process began.
As it was Saturday night, the guys went out cruising on the expressway. They had some fun over taking and watching the various tuned cars come by when Rob saw the group he had seen two months ago just a few cars in front of them. It was the same Aristo and the same Cefiro. The Civic wasn’t there but the cube completed the suspicion. This time it looked finished. The first time he saw it, it had looked plain, not very interesting looking. He could see the color now, it was bright exotic orange, something you would see on a Lamborghini or some other exotic, not red like he thought before. Rob accelerated to see if he could catch up so he could get a better look. As he got closer, the Cubes driver accelerated hard and the sound coming out of the exhaust was like nothing Rob had expected. He knew for sure now, he needed to meet that driver. As the group quickly left their eye sights, Rob and Hiroki pulled over at the nearest rest stop. “Did you see the Cube?” Rob asked jumping out of the P10, “or should I say did you hear it?!”. Hiroki nodded, “Probably an engine change, because it didn’t sound like it had a turbo or a supercharger. It would have probably whined of wooshed (*lol*) . That’s the only way to get power from that car, unless you spend A LOT of money on blueprinting, stroking, fine tuning, etc”. They watched the traffic for awhile, Rob still thinking about the cube, making him think about what he wanted to do to his car . “We should head back, I still have to change my brake pads upfront and I want to catch some sleep as well tonight” Hiroki said as he started moving towards the Levin. They both started up and drove off.
Hiroki’s Levin was more than just a normal Levin. It was the GTS model with the 4 AGZE engine pumping out 165hp. It had a two-tone black up top and grey on the bottom paintjob with some gold Epsilon Mesh rims with a polished lip. He didn’t have a lot of mods, just the basics which included a HKS Hi Power exhaust, HKS cams, Project U Brakes, Tein coilovers, Tom’s Strutbar and some other small changes.
As the guys came back to the apartment they quickly got the Levin on jackstands and started taking of the wheels. As the shiny disks with blue calipers appeared Robs attention went to the coilovers. “I’ve been thinking about some coilovers for the Primera. Are they very expensive? I bought a magazine awhile ago but couldn’t really make out the prices in there.” Hiroki handed Rob one of the wheels and said, “About three times the price of lowering springs, but to be honest, it’s well worth it”. Rob smiled and they continued what they had started. Robs mind was restless; thinking about all these things he could do to his car gave him a headache...

Chp2 - Motorized goodness…

The first two dealerships had not been what Rob was looking for. They had some very nice cars, but mostly big sedans and a bit to pricy. “So what are you looking for if I may ask sir?” said the cabdriver after the third dealership. “I’m looking for something cheaper. These cars are all to expensive for me.” “Hmm, I think I know a place where you might find something you like.” Said the driver and went back on the road. After 20 minutes of driving and seeing the scenery change from big skyscrapers to a more suburban type area, the driver pulled over a small garage. The garage had some cars upfront but the fence surrounding the back side of the garage showed more. “Thank you” Rob said paying the Driver and giving him a bit more because of the tip “I think I will find what I am looking for here”. The driver smiled, said good bye and took off. Rob started towards the garage. He saw a variety of cars up front. They ranged from Nissan S13s to Subaru Imprezas to Suzuki Altos. Now he was sure he was going to find what he was looking for here. As he was looking at a Nissan S13 an employee came over and greeted him. “Can I help you sir?” He said. “Yes”, Rob replied “I’m looking for something not to expansive, not to big, and a bit sporty if possible. It doesn’t really matter what kind, as long as it drives and I can have some fun with it.”. The employee told him to follow. They walked into the building, past a lobby and out the back again. There was a big lot here with about 20 to 30 cars lined up nicely around the edges of the fence. The employee started walking towards the left side. “What price range do you have in mind?” he said while walking towards a Toyota Starlet EP70, “something like this” he said motioning towards the car “or something like this” whilst he walked towards an R34 Nissan Skyline. “More like the starlet” Rob said. The Employee nodded and showed Rob some cars including the EP70, Datsun 910 bluebird from 1979, Nissan Micra turbo, and a Suzuki Alto Works. None of these really caught Rob’s attention. He turned around and saw a 1990 Nissan Primera. It was a really dusty but that didn’t stop him from checking it out. It was dirty, but when you looked carefully you could see it was a nice white color which could look like pearl white if washed and waxed properly.. “How much does the one cost?” Rob asked staring at the car as if he didn’t want to see anything else. “Oh, the Primera. That’s just a bit more than these last cars. If you really want it we can probably make a deal because that’s a car we don’t really seem to loose.” Rob agreed instantly and after making a deal, was now the proud owner of a stock 1992 Nissan Primera. It was the eGT version which had a 2 liter engine, producing 150 hp stock, and had a 5 speed manual transmission. The standard top speed was around 220 km/h. Eventually Rob had paid no more than he would have paid for the starlet because the car had been imported back from Europe meaning it was left hand drive and hard to sell. He started the engine and headed back home. The car pulled nice but Rob knew he was going to make some changes when he got the money to do so. Once back in the Tokyo he started to know and love, he decided he would take the Metropolitan Expressway. When he got on he noticed it was fairly straight and noticed a variety of fast looking vehicles. First was a group of bikers, riding together on sport bikes from the 80s and 90s. They were riding Honda CBRs, Kawasaki Ninjas, and Suzuki GSXs ranging from the 600cc to 1000cc models. A bit later he saw some small cars coming past. “Probably a K-car club” Rob thought. Then he saw something that really grabbed his attention. It was a small group of cars that looked to be fast, definitely the type of cars he liked. For one there was a big Toyota Aristo that shouted VIP in all directions. Then there were a Nissan Cefiro and a Honda Civic EP3. In the back there was a very different car. It was boxier, something that seemed to be more suited for the show van style. It was a red(or was it?) Nissan Cube but something seemed different about, it could easily keep up with the rest which was weird. They quickly left his eyesight and he took the next exit seeing it was close to his apartment. Luckily there was some small parking space behind the Apartment, because otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to buy the car because of some Japanese law. He remembered because he had been troubled when he found out you need to have prove that you can park your car somewhere to be able to buy anything other than a K-car. He parked the car and went up to make dinner. Sometime later Rob was found lying under the car and looking under the hood inspecting the whole car once over before going to bed. It was about 1 AM and had been a long day…

Chp1 - The first day east...

As the sun was rising a plane landed on Tokyo Narita international airport. It was going to be a sunny day the stewardess had said while the plane was taxiing to the gate they were assigned. As the plane was emptying people were trying to get to customs as quickly as possible. It had been a long flight. A young man with dark blond hair, and green eyes was coming from the plane relaxed but tired. No one was waiting for him so he wasn’t in a hurry. He looked around and was trying find out where he was supposed to go. After 20 minutes of waiting at the luggage area, he got his suitcase and his dufflebag and was now standing on the curb waiting for a cab. He didn’t have to wait long because a taxi pulled up. It was some kind of Datsun, probably a Bluebird the man thought. “Where to sir” said the taxi driver after the man explained his Japanese wasn’t very elaborate. “Ameyoko Street please” said the man. The driver nodded and merged into traffic. Once arrived near Ameyoko Street the man paid and walked 2 streets further to an apartment building. He had bought a small apartment where he was going to start his new life. He opened the door with the key he had received earlier from his new neighbor and entered the apartment. It was not as big as the places he was used to but he didn’t care. There where 2 rooms, a living room with a small kitchen, and a bedroom with a small bathroom attached. It had been cheaper than a lot of other apartments around Tokyo but that had its consequences. It needed a new floor covering because the carpet was worn out and dirty in some spots. The kitchen wasn’t the newest either but it worked, the walls needed some paint but the place was clean and easily fixable so he didn’t care. He put down his bag and his suitcase and looked around some more. “This is where your life is going to change Rob” he said to himself.
Rob was a young man, 22 to be exact. He loved cars or basically everything else powered by gasoline engines. He was born in a city in The Netherlands, but decided that after he graduated and got his engineering degree he was going to move to Japan and try to get a job there. He really wanted to work in a tuning shop or for a car company as a designer, because eventually, that’s what he studied to become: a designer. Rob wasn’t rich but he was able to afford the trip, the apartment, and some other basic needs to survive in Japan. His parents had supported him and had helped him search for a place to live. They had been troubled by the decision at first but then they started to see that this was really what Rob wanted and there was no way in stopping him. They had finally been able to find an apartment and Rob decided to buy it.
After inspecting the place Rob was glad to see that the owner had kept his word and had left the bed as said in the advertisement. Even though this would mean he didn’t have to sleep on the floor tonight he was defiantly going to buy a new mattress soon.
He left his stuff in the apartment and went out for a walk. Ameyoko street was crowded with people as the street consisted of many small shops. He looked in some shops and figured out what he could buy there and what he needed to get from other stores. He bought a couple of things including a telephone, a map of the city, and some food for the day. He went back to the apartment and asked the neighbor who lived in the apartment below him for a cab number and some places where he could go buy a car. After getting some he thanked him for the tips and called a cab.
After 20 minutes they where on their way to the dealerships…

Blog Intro

Hi everyone :)

Well, this blog is going to be about a variety of things, mostly related to cars.
My inspiration to starting this blog was the blogs made by OZ. I read his fiction and found it amazing and was inspired to start writing some aswell. So ill start posting stories soon aswell.
I am also going to post things I am doing with sketchup here.

Anyways, I hope some people will enjoy this blog :)