FormulaRX
07-22-2006, 12:39 AM
I guess you could say it took me several years of experimenting with different trends/styles of car tuning (even strayed over to the drift scene for a while) before I came to appreciate "Bippu" tuning. Living around Shinagawa, Tokyo area, I began my days back in the early 90s driving a Toyota Starlet Turbo that I kept fairly stock. That thing treated me pretty well and started me interested in cars. I went through three changes of cars after that...an S13 Silvia, Lancer Evo III, and then a 94' non turbo Supra when the Evo broke down. In 1997, right before I moved to California, Bippu tuning was just getting popular, at least in the area where I was at. Waiting at the crosswalks at night you would always see at least 2 to 3 really lowered Presidents, Aristos, etc with wild body kits and massive wheels roll by. I thought they were the ugliest things I had ever seen because in my mind, they were 4-door sedans and who would want to waste money on a heavy automatic luxury car? At the time I was younger and more of a drifter/street racer. When I moved to the US, I really wanted to purchase a Corvette because I have always wanted to own this American icon but ended up with an old BMW 535i 5-speed instead that I got a really cheap deal on. I needed a car and the deal was good plus I was getting interested in Euro cars at the time so I bought it. The car treated me well and eventually led way to an Audi S2. I began to take heavy interest in the German tuning scene and sold my S2 for an Audi A4 1.8T which I still have today. My friends and coworkers here all drive MB's, BMWs, Audis, Volvos, etc. but the past few years, I have been looking for something new since I am getting a bit bored of European cars. They have taught me a lot and are wonderful cars that have a lot of potential with a huge following, however, I wanted a change. I considered going back to my roots and began looking at a 350z, Lancer Evo, and Honda S2000 however I can't drive those cars on a daily basis like when I was younger. Anyway, a recent trip back to Japan really inspired me when I was re-introduced to Bippu tuning. It was always around when I was in Japan in the 90s but I never cared much for it until I saw what I saw recently. Bippu tuning has so much class. Clean lines, fat wheels, sleek cars, and on top of that, it's something you dont see everyday here in California made me like it even more. I guess it took some years of growing up for me to appreciate this style and level of tuning. Sure I could do the same thing with a Mercedes or BMW but I hardly ever see modded Lexus or Infinities here. They just look so clean! The past few weeks I've spent on the web searching for info on VIP tuning and came across this site. I just had to join. I think my next car will definitely be a VIP car but it's still a big step for me since I have never owned an automatic car before. I might get bored driving it HAHA. I guess it wouldn't be a problem since the whole point of a VIP car is cruising I guess. Anyway, the only problem is that we don't have many choices of VIP cars here in the US so I'm limited to Lexus and Infinity...not sure if the Acura RL will look any good done up. I know places I can get parts from in Japan so I just need to choose a good car to start modding first! I just wished I had gotten into VIP tuning in the 90s when it was getting popular in Japan instead of brushing it off completely. But then again what would a young kid have been doing driving a luxury car? So in short, that's my story. Hope to have a good time here at VIPStyleCars.com and hope to learn a lot !