Following on from our recent article on Steve Kirk's conceptual drawings in Street Machine's Motorvation series we thought we'd bring you Japan's offerings along similar lines: 'Custom Dreaming' by Crazy Masaru.

 

My inability to read Japanese puts me somewhat on the back foot here, so the information I've gleaned is purely visual from the pages of Lightning Vintage Auto magazine where there is a Custom Dreaming section in every splendid issue. Cars are seemingly always domestic in origin (Japanese, that is) and themes are often influenced by American car culture with the likes of Bonneville styled RX7s, Cobra-ised Datsun Roadsters, surf bum Hiace vans and Suzuki Fronte Gassers! 

 

Brilliant lateral thinking here with a Lil' Red Wagon inspired Honda Acty pickup - the Little Little Red Wagon. 

 

Here's that Suzuki Fronte SS (Sport Sedan) drag racer I mentioned. A picture of the front shows a gasser stance, some Cragar-esque mags and the legend 22 cu in on the fender (22 Cubic inches is 360cc for those that don't have their calculators to hand). It's the clever touches like that that make these ideas so neat. 

 

This MS72 Crown looks good given the circuit racer treatment.

 

Another fantastic concept is this Fairlady, as mentioned previously it's been Cobra-ised (or Shelby'd, perhaps?). Again, my lack of Japanese language skill holds us back, but I can clearly make out the numbers '289' amongst the text, suggesting that Masaru has a V8 in mind for this creation.

 

Further info? Despite the Crazy Masaru moniker (changed to Funky Masaru in at least one issue) the credit for illustration goes to M.Nemoto. I've yet to find anything on the 'net about the artist or the illustrations, but judging by this picture from Auto Otaku's Flickr pages there was a display of the works at the Tokyo Nostalic Car Show this year. If you know more let us know.

 

 

The great thing about being a web based magazine is the fact we can point out great things that live in traditional paper magazines without worrying about stupid things like market share and publishers and all that jazz.  Hot Rod magazine is an institution, having been around from the early days of hot rod culture as a paper fanzine all the way up to the present day championing causes like environmental impact of scraping old cars they have always been involved in the hobby of modifying cars.



There is an ill informed opinion that hot rods are all the same, the idea that one 32 Ford custom is the same as any other, or that all hot rods are just the same ideas recycled.  Really though Hot Rod magazine has been leading the way in showing how innovative hotrodding still is with its Dare To Be Different features since 1989.  It is safe to say that in hot rodding circles there are "ways to do things", this is the same in any scene really, certain styles become predominant at certain times.  Dare to Be Different actively highlights those cars that aren't constrained by any of these rules.



Featured in the past have been pro street drag looking road cars, drag racing vans, jet powered VW Beetles, as well as having had a number of now famous people pass through the Dare To Be Different looking glass.



We recommend you to go and pick up a copy of the magazine when they do their big Dare To Be Different features or go and browse their website.  Even if you aren't building anything, or even want to stand out that far, or be that different, it is great fun to try and think like these innovators and see where your ideas can take you.

All images from Hot Rod magazine, please don’t sue us for using them, we love you.

Not content with travelling eight years into the past I've modified the time machine to travel thousands of miles too - in this case it's leapt all the way to the land where the world's wackiest automotive modifiers live - Japan. Think that statement is an exaggeration? Read on...

Those familiar with Young Auto magazine will know that it usually sports a not-particularly-attractrive young 'gal' (their words not mine) on the cover, but this issue is an exception. The big '20' on the front is a clue, this is their twentieth anniversary issue. What does that mean for the reader? It means that the first (or last, depending on whether you're used to reading magazines backwards or not) twenty pages are dedicated to showing all the covers of the previous issues. Here's the page for 1998:

Yep, that's a 240K and those are Hayashis! Believe me about the craziest cars now? Here's some more gems:

 

How about this Celica which is ticking all the Bosozoku boxes: crazy bodykit, upswept exhaust, reworked lighting, subway ring...it's all there. I almost hate myself for liking it. Pretty radical you'd think...until you see this:

 

I can't read the text but what we do know is that it's got four rows of seats including the rearmost row which located in what appears to be a trailer! Whether the gigantic 'X' at the back is a spoiler or an exhaust isn't clear. Enough sillyness I think, how about some tamer (but still riding high in the cool chart) vehicles?

 

  Just how smart is this Celica liftback? I wouldn't usually go for red, but you won't hear any complaints from me! 

 

 
Ah, much calmer. I've no idea what's under the bonnet, but I'm happy to believe there's some form of Turbo'd modern lump from Nissan under the bonnet of this 610 wagon. Whatever the motivation there can't be many better ways of hauling stuff around.

That brings us to the end of another journey through time , tune in again soon - I'm off to Cardiff to soak up some rift energy.

 

 

I've just filled up the Mr.Fusion with garbage, so we can set off on another journey into the past. It's April 1985, if you could pull yourself away from your new Tetris game then you might well be popping to your local newsagents for a copy of the popular car modification magazine Street Machine: 

Once you'd stuck your new tax disc holder in the windcreen of your radically designed Ford Sierra you might have been wishing you'd gone for that front-driven Cavalier instead, then you could fit some of the fantastic new 'GMS Bodystylers' bodykits available from your neighbourhood Vauxhall dealers. Not only could you get the kits, there were 'wheel trims, graphic striping and tailblazer rear reflectors' too: 

 

Stylish. I know what you're thinking; this is the April issue, and that's some kind of joke? Sadly not, but this is: 

The monthly custom profile was on the newly released (January '85) Sinclair C5. This example had a steering wheel fitted in place of the standard under-knee handlebars - suggested motivation was a fork lift truck powerplant. Oh, how I laughed (actually, as a thirteen year old at the time I was confused rather than amused). Elsewhere in the issue the SM team slipped a peculiar entry into their review of 1985 kit cars:

Although it was  a joke at the time, they probably didn't realise there might actually be a market for such a thing in 20 years time...especially if it was a two door...and based on a Mondeo.

 

Turning to the classifieds, now is the time we really need to get the DeLorean to 88! Hmm, 1960 gullwing (that's the bootlid, not the doors!) Chevy Impala, MoT'd and taxed, good condition for eight-hundred notes? I'll take two! 

I know, you saw the cover and you want some of that V8 action...how about this Minor from the back page? The stance is a bit 70's but bodywork like that will never go out of fashion. Even today, with a mildly raised front end and some skinnier front rubber (for the 'gasser' look) that car could be a show winner. That's all from me for today, I'm off to find Biff's Almanac so I can change the future!

 

 One of my passions is old car mags, they're like a time machine that you can use for inspiration or reference. This is part one of our Retro review series where we fire up the scanner and take you on a most excellent (intentional Bill & Ted reference) journey into car modifying from back in the day. Buckle up scenesters...we're going back...way back... It's 1969, Ford dealers will sell you a brand new MkII Cortina, British people still thought that penny begins with a 'd' and that pound begins with an 'L' and this is the month that the Americans (allegedly) walk on the moon. Back on earth car enthusiats in England are looking to Hot Car for the latest in car tweakage. Isn't hindsight a great thing; 'wings' on F1 cars? Thank heavens they put a stop to that, once four wheel drive is adopted by the teams downforce will be a thing of the past, relegated to a mere blip in motor racing history, phew!. At least UK hot rodding is thriving, it's getting hard to tell a UK car from it's US counterpart...is that an Opus or an authentic Bonneville racer? Three year old 18,000 mile Downton tuned Mini in immaculate condition for less than a monkey? (that's five-hundred quid) - I'll take it! I'll have that Riley too, as it happens.  How about some new rims? "Some 5.5Js for the Amazon sir...of course, they're seven an' nineteen. VAT? On car parts? Are you mad?" What about some new-fangled deluxe aluminium wheels for the missus' Cooper? That's all folks, we'll be making like HG Wells again soon though, see you there! - cue cheap special effects/cheesy synthesised music.

It seems like we aren't the only ones who spend half of our time trawling ebay for tat - apparently Madonna has been buying up budget classics for use in her latest promo vid! I've just caught the lastest Madonna video on BBC Breakfast and it's a four minute retro-fest in which Madonna, Justin Timberlake and annoyingly prolific R'n'B producer Timbaland (along with some blokes in red overalls - mechanics, perhaps?) leap over various overpriced UK registered retros including a Cressida, a Mercedes W123 Coupe, a Dolomite, a Hunter and a Volvo 240! 

£7000? Crikey! I'll get mine on ebay straight away. I can see it now...we'll have 'Madonna video' added to ebay listings within the week. 'DRIFT, Ashes to Ashes, Life on Mars, Rat Look, Madonna'. 

Renault 25, MKIII Cortina (Life on Mars, Madonna video) Triumph Dolomite, Hillman Hunter (or Singer Vogue - that would make more sense, as she wrote a song about one!) and Triumph 2000 (Levis ad, Madonna video). That's no way to treat a classic!  * "c'mon vogue - let your body move to the music" * etc.

Obviously her red-suited mechanics couldn't fix the Cadillac and left Madge to push it while they danced on the roof of the Cressida. Retro enthusiasts might find this video difficult to watch because of the way the cars are treated. People of a non-retro persuasion will just find the 'tongue' bit rather lacking in taste...eeuugh! There's a preview of the video on madonna.com for those of you with a strong enough stomach, the song is called '4 minutes'.