Motor Head

JDM, ShaDM
All the JDM fans are salivating over the Tokyo Auto Salon happening this month in Japan. A lot of the American automotive press will be on hand hoping to catch a glimpse of the next big trend coming out of the Motherland. We will pay top dollar to anyone who can confirm the death of the VIP and Spocom movement in Japan. Last thing we need is more of those trends hitting our shores.

Mike G has the raddest blog on all things JDM at www.auto-otaku.com. Check out some of these amazing photos from the Auto Salon. Scroll down and you will get a sneak peek at the new Nissan Skyline R35 and BMW M3 built by Amuse.

Where’s the Type R?
Honda is bringing over 1,000 Civic Mugen SI annually to the USA. It’s basically a $30k SI will a body kit, suspension and exhaust. For that kind of money we’re buying an Evo. If Honda was an American owned corporation with some cojones, we would have the Civic Type R here instead...then again, if this was the case, the Civic would actually be Aveo.

Rally Movie hits Theaters in Japan
The Special Stage movie website is up. The movie released in Japan is based on the popular manga about retired rally driver who is trying to return to the sport. From our mangled understanding of Japanese, there’s something about an accident that sidelined him 20 years ago and now he’s trying to get back into it by doing time attack in the Touge. Check out the Trailer.

We’ll reserve our judgment until after the screening but this looks a lot like the Initial D live action movie…only cheesier; if that’s possible. At least they have some cool cars featured in the movie (Skyline R32, Focus RS, STi, AE86 rally car, Starion).

Red Bull Experiment
Former Formula Drift Champion and rally driver Rhys Millen suffered three broken vertebrae in his neck and two compressed and broken vertebrae in his back while testing/preparing for the first ever back flip in an off-road truck at the Red Bull Experiment in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. Word is that he is very lucky and will walk again. We’ll have to wait and see what kind of impact this is going to have on his 2008 Formula Drift season.

FS: Skyline GT-R (low mileage, only $10k over sticker)
Lots of cool media and info on the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R35) are just coming out now. Most dealerships are looking to mark up the price around $10-20k. Even if you are willing to pay this ridiculous markup DO NOT put any money down to reserve the car. None of the dealerships know how many they will be getting the first year and the honest ones will not ask you to put a down payment on this car.

The Gloves are coming off!
Check out the latest Nitro Circus Thrillbillies DVD featuring Travis Pastrana jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Sick! There’s a nice little war of words in the end credits directed at Rally America competitor Andrew Pinker and his Rockstar gang. We can’t wait to see what is going to happen this year in the series when these two go up against one another. The American Rally scene just got a bit more interesting.