Shakotan Style In The Irish Country side
I love Ireland’s hidden car culture. I always found myself abroad telling people about all these cool Japanese cars that end up in the rural countryside of Ireland and its always met with confusion or disbelief. The car pictured above is an A60 series Carina which used to roll around the streets of Japan. This Carina more than likely spent its time revving and hanging out with people who would consider themselves to be part of Shakotan/Bosozoku culture. Now the car resides down a back road in rural Wexford.
Many amazing cars have been plucked from the auctions of Japan and more often then not, their new home is usually in a strange new setting somewhere between two fields in the middle of nowhere. I got a message from Kevin Barnes asking me if I wanted to call out and check out his collection of Japanese tin, an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Not only did Kevin have a cool Carina, which was actually imported by MR “X”, but Kevin also had a pretty awesome collection of Kyusha shoes. These made for a super cool backdrop for the Carina. An image easily that could easily be mistaken as a scene from Japan.
But nope, this is just another cool shed nestled away in the Irish countryside. It’s been said a million times on this site, Ireland has such an incredible Japanese car culture. Part of my love for the car scene here is uncovering these little Japanese gems, hearing about something online and then finally getting to encounter these rare treats in and hearing the stories about how they end up here.
Kevin also has one of the only Nissan Be-1’s I have ever seen on this side of the globe. These are basically a K10 Micra with different styling on top.
Nissan released the Pao, the Figaro, the Be-1 and the Escargo all at the same time and these little nuggets were essentially Nissan Micras with a different skin. The variation of cars coming out of the factories back in the Japanese boom years was phenomenal, something we will see ever again. Look how cool this little Be-1 is! Such a charming little machine.
The Carina was actually won in a raffle and has been left untouched since it came in from Japan, it oozes shakotan style and probably has some interesting stories, Shakotan is a little different to the traditional Bosozoku style, it favours clean cars with original lines, full-on build are often referred highly modified vehicles with extreme body modifications and long exhaust pipes sticking several feet from the car.
I’m a sucker for Japanese stickers and couldn’t get enough of these on the rear windows. It’s great to see the car being preserved, it literally looks exactly as it did when it cruised the streets of Japan.
Some of the wheels Kevin had on display were incredible, these Bridgestone Zona Potenzas were an unusual wheel.
How about some Hoshino’s? An iconic wheel!
Hayashi Racing bomber anyone?
I could not stop taking photos of this car. I wonder if the original owner ever thought about where it ended up. I bet he has no idea it’s in Ireland.
The exhaust was too good! The styling on these cars is a whole other dimension of goodness.
The super-chunky black steelies and fenders is a classic look, along with a rear back bumper delete. This is one of the toughest looking Celicas I had ever seen. That’s what I love about Japanese car styling, they know when to push things without going overboard, the car is still quite simple but still incredibly tough, its a perfect blend.
The ashtray still had cigarettes from Japan! Hilarious.
Kevin backed the car in and I decided to hit the road. I actually plan on going back to do a vlog episode on his place once he returns from Australia. These photos were actually right before we started the vlogs.
I couldn’t leave without admiring Kevins EG6, one of the cars that started it all, Kevin had much more to show us but ill leave this one here. A revisit this year is on the cards and a vlog episode on his collection is in the works. Hope you enjoyed this little peek into an awesome collection, nestled away in the Irish countryside. -Neil
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