Hakone, Expert OZ and Runfree
Feeling adventurous around Fuji and slightly refreshed after a somewhat questionable sleep, we decided to head for the famous Hakone turnpike. Luck was not on our side with this one. It turned out the peak was in the clouds, so we didn’t see a whole lot at the top. I bet there are spectacular views in the daytime, maybe next time!
The Alphard wasn’t the most exciting machine to be taking up a touge.
Made famous from things like Initial D and heavy skid activities in the ’90s and the fact it’s a road open to the public, you pay a small toll, and you can race to the top, there wasn’t much to look at up there, so we decided not to hang around and made our way down the other side.
How cool are these roads?
The decent is where things got interesting. We had a bit of brake fade in the Alphard. You could see the gravel traps alongside the road where brake failure has undoubtedly happened to some unfortunate people in the past.
Halfway down, we pulled over to give the brakes a rest. The pads were smoking hot. On the side of the road, we spotted a walkway above a bridge, but the spiders and cobwebs had us spooked! We didn’t fancy getting stung by something in unusual in Japan. Imagine the nightmare.
Flashbacks from Kawabata’s hill climb.
I’d love to come back on a clear day to enjoy it again, nonetheless still an exciting drive. At the bottom, we spotted an excellent looking S15 followed by a fantastic wildlife display in the toilets. So col that a road like this exists for people to cruise up and enjoy, you might remember Kawabata doing this in the Hill climb video! It was nuts to see in real life.
This was a cool sight, an unexpected NA Silvia hitting the hills.
Expert Oz has been around for a long, long time. They have played a big part in tuning and servicing many cars around the Kangwawa area over the last twenty-plus years.
They used to sell Goodline aero and a lot of their original stuff, I’ve always been a huge fan, and it was an honour to check the place out in real life and buy some clear indicators for my 86, which luckily enough, they still manufacture.
So much to take in, in such a compact spot.
The fact we can call to one of my dream shops and buy something in real life, it’s hard to describe how fucking cool that felt. What a moment! A shop I stared at in 86 magazines for ten plus years, to finally rock in there, have a chat, check the place out and buy some stuff; I couldn’t ask for more on this trip.
The colour of this Trueno is incredible.
They had some cool cars at the shop, from a mini graveyard with various 86’s in current rebuild states, along with a lovely rare GT E70 corolla. We exchanged some stickers with the owner’s wife and said our goodbyes, heading across town to see if we would get lucky at Run free.
Various 86’s getting restoration treatment. This cream Trueno was exceptionally good looking.
Along with this grey Levin sitting on beefy Watanabes.
Flip taking a look at the engine bay, so cool to see them being preserved like this.
Those vented light covers were interesting.
A good looking bay…
That GT front!
Man, this thing was amazing.
For such a small shop, Expert OZ has a lot to process.
From sad Pandas…
To pristine examples.
This shop has remained relatively unchanged for 20 plus years.
I love the domestic versions of cars that sold in Ireland. This Bluebird in Japan was the Almera in Ireland and Europe.
As we were leaving, we had to stop and appreciate two bright yellow Levins parked up looking rough and ready; I love how stuff like this exists over there, in pairs too! Next to some mundane machinery.
This 14 was hiding behind a truck, too; we had to stop for a look.
This pair was one of the best things we saw on the entire trip. There’s something so good about seeing two rough and ready cars from the same team like this, just casually parked on the side of the street.
The yellow with the black bumper combo is a great look.
Even with the setting, mundane machines and a blank wall, I couldn’t stop taking photos.
Amazing!
Sadly we didn’t strike gold with every visit. Run Free was closed that day, so I grabbed a quick snap outside, and we continued on our travels. Next on the list was Winds Auto.
On the way out of Kanagawa, we spotted this pristine Sunny GL sitting in a Seven eleven car park and had to stop. Our day was already off to a great start.