‘Motoring Times’ finds out that substance over form, speed over sheen define the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon

CHIBA, Japan: In a land of outlandish street fashion and bizarre anime characters, it’s surprising to find out that the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon—held from January 15 to 17—was a study in restraint, where tasteful modifications and substantive, performance enhancing tuning were the norm rather than the exception in the local automotive culture. American-style Pimp My Ride, the Japanese car spectacle simply is not.
Of course, a smattering of cars sporting jackknife doors and blinged-out paintjobs and gaudy airbrushed artworks were around, sharing space with the usual array of winged horrors and bellowing boomboxes. But the vast majority wore genuine enhancements that served as proofs that if the auto biz were any less focused on bottom-line profits and expanding customer bases, the results could be cars that are intoxicating to drive, thrilling to look at and hopelessly easy to love.

At the massive Makuhari Messe halls, also the venue of last year’s edition of the Tokyo Motor Show, the display booths were littered with over 600 vehicles, a number of which were those that are highlighted my major auto manufacturers Honda, Nissan and Toyota—which brought out a new tuning line called G Sports. Complementing the show cars were 300 after-market tuning and styling companies, car-centric merchandise, as well as Japan’s largest and foremost technical school for automotive education.

Worth noting too is that among the sea of seriously wicked cars, green technology is increasingly making its mark as every significant exhibitor has on display hybrid cars, in particular the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight. If there ever is a sign of a paradigm shift in automotive culture, that is the most apparent.

And the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon, as tastefully restrained as it was, is the brightly lit billboard that points the way. Brian Afuang

MORE NEXT WEEK
The correlation between Japan’s and the Philippines’ after-market scene, a school where tuners are bred, exclusive photos of the Tokyo Auto Salon—stuff to much to cram in today’s issue of Motoring Times.