Autoweek's (may 8 2006 issue) "Mean Machines" article by Richard S. Chang

[TransformCelsior]

Has anyone seen this article yet ? It sure seems like Richard Chang's been doin a ton of research on this site.

It goes in depth and as far as naming which car's are "true" VIP style cars and it's relaton to japanese mobster style.

Is it time to stock up on some used LS400'S? GS400's ? q45's ? I wonder if re-sale value on these cars will be goin up.

wow we are gonna see a ton of little kids following this trend. I don't think this display of class and good taste is gonna be so exclusive anymore. :)

[V8_Aristo]

Any one can buy the car, but as we seen time and time again, you cannot buy good taste and class.* ::)

Here's the article.....

Standing in the middle of a convention hall outside of Philadelphia, Takahiro Taketomi looks a bit like Bogey. His eyes are stern and focused and ringed by the charcoal hue of lost sleep. His short black hair is neat and smoothed and shines. He doesn’t smile. In fact, he speaks with a grimace and like he is always about to light a cigarette.

Taketomi is one of the self-proclaimed founders of VIP style, the next great Japanese micro-trend to surface in America. “Bippu style,” as it is colorfully known in Japan, starts with a high-power luxury sedan. The car is slammed on ultra-thin tires and trimmed with boxy body kits. At first glance, a VIP style car might look like any tuner sedan on its way to Hot Import Nights, but there are specific details that set it apart.

A VIP style car might have a billet grille or metallic trim lines or polished wood inside. Window curtains are big. So are aftermarket emblems and hood ornaments. The look is a bit like Scarface Goes to Japan. And legend has it VIP style has roots in the yakuza (organized crime in Japan). True or not, Taketomi makes a strong case on its behalf.

Through a translator, Taketomi tells us he built his first VIP style car, a Nissan Cedric, in 1993. Three years later he founded Junction Produce, which specializes in products for VIP style cars. Today it is one of the best-known marques in VIP tuning and has its brand on everything from body kits to wheels to cuff links and bracelets. Junction Produce is also the first company of its kind to make a big push into the United States.

According to Taketomi, true VIP style tuning is limited to only 10 Nissan and Toyota models: Nissan President, Cima, Gloria, Cedric and Fuga; Toyota Celsior, Century, Aristo, Crown and Majesta. That’s it. Since most of those models come with powerful turbocharged engines in Japan, VIP style cars are rarely tuned for performance. More important is that they’re slammed as low as they can go on the widest wheels possible. Most of the other tuning parts somehow assist in this goal.

VIP stylers use air suspensions to raise their cars to install the wheels and tires and then lower the car on top. Tires are stretched beyond their limits to fit on oversized wheels. Extreme offsets are used so the wheel lips kiss the fenders. And it’s not unusual to see 245/30R tires on 19x10.5-inch wheels—the tuning equivalent of Fat Albert wearing the shorts of his enunciation-challenged friend Mushmouth.

Kelvin Tohar of Falken Tires, which is helping to spread the word in America, says, “It’s not the safest thing to do and Falken doesn’t recommend you do it for daily driving, but it’s the style.” Falken has partnered with Junction Produce to hawk its line of FR452 tires. In exchange Falken promotes Junction Produce at tuner shows and SEMA events, like the International Auto Salon, where we met Taketomi.

Tohar, who has his own VIP style Lexus GS 300 that he calls by its Japanese moniker Aristo, tells me elegance is the underlying statement. “At car shows, most [owners] won’t raise their hoods because it disrupts the flow of the car,” he says. “Even the Junction Produce exhaust is more of an aesthetic.”

Elegance is the word that’s repeated like a mantra by VIP style owners and companies. But it’s a strange sort of elegance. VIP style companies like Junction Produce, Wald and Auto Couture have logos that look vaguely Oxford Street but are more a Japanese version of mafia royalty, without any ironic subtext, like you’d imagine the parts delivered in purple velvet bags, à la Crown Royal.

And the parts aren’t cheap. Outfitting a car VIP style can run up to $20,000 and beyond. But as Tony Montana says in Scarface, “You gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”

[Dominik]

Wow... finally an article that is well researched and spreads the right message about VIP. I dont care if it means it will get a bit more popular, because it will get more popular in the RIGHT way... Its a welcome change to all the "VIP is about taking any expensive car and slamming it on expensive wheels" type articles which breed ignorance!

I'd rather 10,000 kids reading this article and busting out with GS/LS/Q45s rocking low offset wide wheels, than 100 people reading the other articles and running around saying their hummer on 28s is VIP!

[callaghan.]

wow, that is a really good article.

[swifty949]

Richard used to be head editor for Super Street. He's been to Japan many many times, and he's met a lot of famous tuners. He's well familar with the trends in Japan, and it is plausabile that he goes to this site, i doubt he has used it for basing the information from here for the article.

[Gao Jian]

good right up, it gives people a good idea of what they are getting into with vip cars.

[TransformCelsior]

I think we're gonna be seeing a ton of GS-LS-Q45's on the road this summer, especially black. :)

[Gao Jian]

I think we're gonna be seeing a ton of GS-LS-Q45's on the road this summer, especially black. :)


around me in Wisconsin people are not to into the VIP scene other than a few dubish style LS's and GS's no one has really been introduced to the VIP scene, I hope to change that in the near future but im sure for people on the east and west coast and in the FL area that you will be right. But I think drifting is the next inline for just a full blown crazy trend, after that perhpas VIP. However the VIP cars are a little more expensive so that meet some people at bay.

[Pagong]

Here's probably how its going to go...:

Drifting is just beginning, it will blow up after the movie F&F3.

The ultra compact car segment is going to be big..with the introduction of the Fit, Yaris and the Versa things will most likely swing that way, especially if the gas prices stay in the $3.50/gal price.

VIP will trickle down to people who will try it, and find it much harder to pull of in the middle of a build and end up selling thier stuff and go back to Drifting... :D

[carb0]

The ultra compact car segment is going to be big..with the introduction of the Fit, Yaris and the Versa things will most likely swing that way, especially if the gas prices stay in the $3.50/gal price.

VIP will trickle down to people who will try it, and find it much harder to pull of in the middle of a build and end up selling thier stuff and go back to Drifting... :D


well said and let's hope* 8)

[Y33CIMAVIPCAR]

lol, I dont think VIP theme will ever be big in US especially the gas price and the VIP parts are so damm expensive. I just fill up my car and cost me $60 now :'( I would say people will start to notice there is a thing called VIP CAR from Japan but not necessary gonna be a main streme hit. I dont think VIP appeal to younger generation anyway and plus VIP dosent focus on the preformance just cosmatic wise. I would say young gen will pick FAST AND FURIOUS over DADDY & MOMMY's VIP car anyday. Again, I could be wrong tho cause u see kids fixed up their mom's CAMRY now days :2funny: so anything can happen. I just predict it will not be a huge hit due to those factors. Thats just my 2 cents ;)

[One Ton VIP]

Again, it's not a matter of whether real VIP styling-in any form, conservative or extreme-will "catch on" in the US...but more a matter of how the US market is fueled by the bastardization of buzzwords and trends. Thus, people will start saying this is VIP, and that is VIP, but 78% of the time, they'll be way off base.
i.e. wait till cheap bodykit companies come out with a "VIP" line of kits for Civics, Cavaliers, Sonatas, etc... just like how there's "Drift" bodykits for the same cars, and then some. All about the buzzwords...

[bBOXD]

2006 buzzword= VIP... :buck2:

[HG50]

well i was just gonna post this but good thing i did a search but anyways if you havent seen the actual article here it is

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060508/FREE/60428006/1029

chris

[TransformCelsior]

I dunno about how fast it's catching on but I just saw another fixed up GS300 (or was it gs400) on the way to work this morning.

saw another fixed up GS300 (or was it gs400) last week again on the way to work .

[JDMJim]

I've blown people away with my VIP/Euro inspired xB in Chicago. I want wider rims now and a way to camber out the front rims to 3Dgrees or more. Maybe wider front contorl arms.