12/26/2023 0 Comments Crazy choppers in japan![]() Vans, known as RVs in Japan, have also horned in on the Boso action. Most have standalone generators for tripping the lights fantastic at car shows and parking lot hangouts. Dekotora has the aggressive Boso bodywork but the claim to fame is extravagant, over-the-top lighting. Japan’s truck drivers took the baton and pushed the limit. Dubbed “ Torakku Yaro” or “Truck Guys,” the plot centered around a trucker and his wildly dressed over-the-road truck. Dekotora translates to “decorated truck,” and these niche rides merged into the Boso collective after a movie franchise hit the screens in 1975. Move over Optimus Prime of “Transformers” fame - Bosozoku has a truck scene. ![]() It makes a person wonder how many of these cars are even road legal. Traffic violations are the order of the day, and writer’s cramp is in the cards for any officer who pulls one of these creations over. In fact, the crimes of today’s Bosozoku ARE their cars. The current Boso landscape is much more tame. The prime elements of Bosozoku - the neon colors, spoilers that make snow plows green with envy, and towering wings - do not lend themselves to making a stealthy getaway car. This is not the car of criminal enterprise. It’s hard to equate Bosozoku cars with thuggery. Driver Haruhito Yanagida captured the championship in his Bluebird in 19 and helped set the hook for Boso fans throughout the land. The powerplant motivated Nissan racers that competed in a multitude of race series and made more power than Cosworth DFV F1 engines of the era. Each of these triple threats weighed around 2,300 pounds and were motivated by Nissan’s 2.0-liter LZ20B turbocharged 4-cylinder rated at 570 horsepower. The Coca-Cola-liveried Super Silhouette racer rounded out what was known at the time as the Nissan Turbo Corps. Hasemi would ride the Skyline wave to the R31 where he won the JTC championship in 1989 and on to the R32 Godzilla models, winning the championship again in 1991 and ’92. Although the cars were mandated to retain key stock surfaces, their engines and underpinnings were leading edge for the times, built to FIA Group 5 specs. Perhaps the most popular and immediately identifiable Super Silhouette race car, Masahiro Hasemi’s Skyline notched five wins in ’83. The #23 and other Super Silhouette racers are displayed at events today and are big fan favorites. It was driven by the legendary Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who would go on to win the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 19 in the Impul Racing Team Skyline R32 GTR, sponsored by auto parts supplier Calsonic. The white and yellow livery of the #23 Silvia is one of the three Silhouette standouts that competed in the Formula Silhouette, a support series of the Fuji Championship. So, Nissan stacked on air dams and spoilers and added some crazy fender flares. The rules of the Silhouette series, which ran from 1979 to 1984, required the racers to retain the stock hood and roofline as well as the doors of their original cars. The Bosozoku took Nissan’s aerodynamic treatments, dialed their volume to 11, and hit the open roads of Japan. The driving force behind the Boso aesthetic was Japanese race cars from the early 1980s, namely Nissan’s Super Silhouette racers. ![]() exhaust pipes that reach for the stars and lip spoilers that extend in feet - not inches - in front of the car. ![]() Exaggerated styling in this case means a look that goes beyond reality. Taking cues from its two-wheeled forerunners, the scene became best known for its exaggerated styling cues, disturbingly low ride heights, and outrageous exhaust systems. trending to more of an antisocial attitude with fits of reckless driving, wild partying, and general anarchy mixed in.Īt the height of its popularity, the Bosozoku car culture developed its signature look. By this time the scene had expanded to cars, and its level of delinquency had begun to recoil. According to Japan’s National Police Agency statistics, Bosozoku membership peaked at 42,510 in 1982. Today the outlaw edginess of Bosozoku is gone, and the scene has more of a gritty, grunting Rambo-esque facade with a geeky, goofy Ken Jeong aura beneath the surface.įrom their 1950s greaser “Rebel Without A Cause” vibe of the early days, the Bosozoku, or “violent speed tribes,” developed a violent streak, going from aggressive riding, the menacing of bystanders, and a little property damage to a proper gang that served as a gateway to the Yakuza and more serious crimes. The scene’s roots stretch back to motorcycle gangs of the 1950s, a more sinister criminal gang era in the ‘70s, and then transformed into more of a rowdy car club vibe in the 1980s. How can Boso be explained to the casual observer? Perhaps this: The cars resemble real-life creations dreamed up by wacky cartoonists experiencing bad acid trips. Bosozoku represents a far-off bastion of Japanese car-tuning culture that borders on theater of the absurd.
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