SRO Attended the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon held in the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Makuhari, Chiba, Japan

Photos and Article by Terrence "Tragedy" M.

My sixth year attending the Tokyo Auto Salon, and it was probably one of the best. For those of you who don't know what the Tokyo Auto Salon is; it's the biggest automotive aftermarket convention in the world. Bigger (and much, much better) than SEMA. All the famous Japanese drivers were there (Keiichi Tsuchiya, Ken Nomura, etc) , as well as other Japanese automotive celebrities (Smoky Nagata, Isami Amemiya). A two famous cars were also on display, Knight Rider's KITT and Speed Racer's car.

No doubt the most aniticpated thing to see at this year's show was how the bggest Japanese tuner companies would modify the Nissan GT-R. The hype was built up in JApanese car magazines, where big tuners like HKS, Trust, MINE'S, etc showed teaser pictures of their GT-R in OPTION2 magazine inviting car fans to come to the show and see the car for themselves. Alas, the time came and I looked for the first GT-R I could find...which was at HKS KANSAI OFFICE's booth. The GT-R had just been released and given how difficult Nissan made the GT-R to modify, it was no surprise that most of the GT-Rs only had aftermarket wheels. MINE'S and FUJITSUBO had exhaust systems on their display GT-Rs, but skeptics believed that it they were only for show and had no real function.

It wasn't all about the GT-R at the show.  All the biggest Subaru tuners had their 2008 STIs already kitted and modified, while Mitsubishi proudly displayed a Team Orange (YUKE'S) Lancer Evolution X. Mugen showed off its latest Fit and S2000...but Spoon Sports was nowhere to be found. 2007 was the only year that Spoon Sports has ever had a booth a  Tokyo Auto Salon event. Spoon Sports is a household name among American Honda fans, but they're pretty much unknown in Japan. It's probably due to the lack of popularity of Hondas among racers and also Spoon's troubled and controversial past in the racing world. Maybe Mr. Ichishima will bring Spoon back next year.

Well, that's all folks. Enjoy the pictures!

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