足の長い女の子の夏の健康的な遠出車ショー
Mina Minatozaki
11 August 2020, 23:00
Filed to: BAYSHORE
Tucked away in the depths of Yokohama's Tsurumi Ward, there is rumored to be a mythical city disguised as an otherwise inconspicuous parking area. It is a legend as great as that of El Dorado, a grand city emblazoned in a gold that shimmers under the Columbian sun. But you won't find any precious metals here, for this city is one of steel, high octane gas, and labyrinthine roads scorched by burnt rubber. This is the legendary "city" of Daikoku Overpass.
Originally, the overpass served as a checkpoint for illegal high-speed racing teams who would often undergo top speed test runs along the Bayshore Route of the Shuto Expressway. Over time, its scope of interest extended beyond the underground racing scene and into the more general sphere of influence of car enthusiasts in general. Nowadays, car meets at the overpass have become diversified and plentiful enough for even the most well-developed palates.
Left to right: 2004 Seikatsu GR20 SPEC AX Turbo, 2018 Farox Tesora RF8 @On3CherryShake , 1974 Grifone Vistosa V12 @Boiled_Steak , 2020 FWM Senso @Vena.Sera423
I arrived at the overpass during its peak of activity. Have a sampling of what I found: a twin-turbocharged yellow panel van, a dark beige Harris 1800GT cabriolet in impeccable quality, a well-kept example of the polarizing Kadett Beatbuggy, and even a heavily modified Kuma GP-R with an expertly-executed itasha livery. Cars from all around the globe lined the parking spots as they sung a cacophony of bangs, pops, growls, and shrieks from their engines.
As I wandered the Daikoku overpass, one particular specimen stood out above all the other entries. Quite literally.
The 25K is a sight to behold especially on Japanese roads; these were never sold outside of North America, and it’s evident why. Here’s me for scale; I’m 165cm.
It was a Seikatsu 25K, which was the company's foray into the North American pickup truck market in the late 70s as part of their brand expansion. Wanting to break out of their predominantly frugal and boring image that had been established by their "Esper" compact car, Seikatsu released their "GR" and "MR" FR sport coupes in the early 60s. The 25K, released in 1978, was based off a heavily modified Seikatsu cab-over truck chassis and used license-built V8 engines from Athena Heavy Steel Industries based in Los Angeles.
The owner of this 25K is Yoona, a Korean-American transfer student from South California. "Why did I do it? Because I could," she responded to a question many of you share: why did you bring this here? "It's 20 feet long, weighs nearly three tons, and it has a ground clearance of 20 inches. There's a 7-liter V8- yes, 7 liters- under the hood. I think it gets like... 7 miles per gallon highway. And a Japanese automaker actually built and sold these. There's really nothing else like it."
Despite being wildly impractical on Japanese roads due to engine displacement taxes and its monolithic presence, there still remains a cult following of these massive American pickups. "It's actually fucking wild how popular these, um, old trucks can get here," Yoona explained cheerfully. "Diehard American weeaboos- yes, they exist here- will pay top dollar for your typical run-of-the-mill Sisten. The bigger, the better."
Parked right next to the 25K was a coupe in metallic white I had never seen before.
The badging gave its identity away as a Seikatsu, but I didn't recognize any model that even looked remotely like it. "It's the new Seikatsu GR," Yoona explained. "Its debut is supposed to be, uh, in about two weeks from now. Set to go on sale in early 2021."
I know what you're thinking; didn't they stop producing the GR in 2010 due to the financial crisis? According to Yoona, "They did. But now they're making it again." If you're wondering (like me) how this brand new, unreleased sports coupe from Seikatsu happened to be sitting out in the open in a heavily populated car meet, I don't have an answer for you. But Yoona does.
According to Yoona, this new generation of the Seikatsu GR comes with two engine options; a 3.5L turbocharged inline 6, or a 4.0L turbocharged V8. This particular example has the latter.
"I mean, it was a pretty damn easy job," Yoona remarked as she reclined in the driver's seat of her 25K. "One of my friends got an internship at their nearby manufacturing plant and according to him, there were rumors that the very first new GR was being kept in that same plant. In addition, one of the loading bay doors was busted and the contractor they hired to fix it was being a pain in the ass. I just got a trailer, busted in at about 4 in the morning, loaded this bitch up, and hauled ass. Well, not really hauled ass, since this [25K] tops out at 99 mph. I bet Seikatsu higher-ups are losing their shit right now."
In an unexpected act of kindness, Yoona handed me the keys to the Seikatsu GR. "This thing's actually really fun to drive," she said. "It's AWD, so don't worry about running over an entire class of kindergartners like you're in a Mustang." Yoona only let me drive in the general area adjacent to the overpass due to an overwhelming police presence on the highway, most likely in response to the missing car that I was driving.
Despite weighing just under 2 tons, the GR carries a certain swiftness to it that would make you think otherwise. The twin-turbocharged V8 paired with the 8-speed automatic made acceleration effortless at all speeds, and combined with what I assume is Seikatsu's improved QuadraDrive AWD that made its debut in their new generation of the JX, the GR flings itself through corners like meticulously calculated gravity-influenced slingshot maneuvers performed by spacecraft.
But more importantly, the GR held its composure no matter what corner I threw it into, inspiring a confidence within me to push it further and closer to its absolute limit. The GR lacked the sterile, overly-isolated feeling shared among other newer Seikatsu models I've driven, but instead delivered a much more raw, engaging driving experience. The rigid chassis and responsive, nimble steering lend the GR its fun yet incredibly capable handling qualities that responded well to even an amateur driver like me, seeing as the fastest car I've driven before today was a 130hp Kimura.
I enjoyed my visit at Daikoku Overpass, but it was soon time for me to leave after the test drive. Yoona kindly offered to drive me back home in the 25K, which proved to be easier said than done as she ended up having to take detours through anxiety-inducingly narrow alleyways. But on the drive back home, a question lingered in my mind; why was an otherwise normal, uncharacteristic parking area revered as a legendary site, a sort of holy grounds for the Japanese car scene?
Maybe it's the same reason why some people keep what would normally be undesirable cars; sure, they may be slow, unreliable, and may maim you if you crash in it, but what matters to them is not the physical value of the car, but the value of the memories ascribed to the car. Maybe it was their first car, or it was a car they saw in their childhood that they've always lusted after. What would be worthless to anyone else may be invaluable to them because of what it means to them. Perhaps the memories people have of flying down the Bayshore Express Route at over 300 kilometers per hour in the dead of the night inevitably draw them back to the overpass, where they can relive their experiences lost to time. Perhaps some may recall friends they made during a previous meetup at the overpass. No matter their reason, the respect garnered by the Daikoku Overpass can be traced back to these memories shared by the Japanese car scene, ultimately giving it its legendary status that we all know about. As spoken by Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid, "forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit." Perhaps one day, we will look back on these days fondly.
Mina Minatozaki is a copy editor at "NXT," the student-run publication of Tokyo's University X. She is an undergraduate student studying Global Health.
Pictures without Mina
COMMENTS (4)
Anonymous | 7:31pm
slow piece of shit…i can smoke the fuck out of this in my 1994 EG hatch with a couple of simple mods:
10 point cage with Parachute
3 piece discontinued JoJo frontend
spec-R full drag suspension
Fuel cell with -8 lines from tank to motor
1 044 bosch pump
1200 rc injectors
golden eagle sleeved block
cp 10:1 pistons
Eagle rods
arp headstuds
oem h22 headgasket
Balance shaft delete
competition clutch twin disc
Port and polished head
skunk2 valve springs and retainers
Str cam gears
crower stage 1 cams
aluminium radiator with slim fan
gsr transmission with itr lsd.
qsd h2k intake manifold adapter
k20 rbc manifold
qsd throttle body spacer
blox 70mm throttle body
4bar omni map sensor
6al msd with coil and cap. 3 step launch control
hks bov
Garret 102mm turbocharger.
Custom t4 front facing turbo manifold with 44mm flange
44mm tial wastegate
Custom water to air intercooler set up
aem eugo wideband w/ gauge
tuned on chipped p28
13 inch volks drag rims
2 15 inch volks rear rims
arp extended wheel studs
si cluster
150 shots of nitrous im making 348 horsepower to the FRONT WHEELS because thats the only place the power should ever be
★ 43
chiefzach2018 | 10:00am
Knowing Seikatsu’s model naming scheme, why isn’t the GR shown in the picture badged as a “GR40” due to its 4L engine? I wonder if there’s any particular reason it’s a “GR3” instead.
★ 11
MrChips | 8:51am
It’s absolutely appalling how Seikatsu managed to get their pre-production prototype of the new GR stolen, and by a college student no less. Clearly there must be a signficant degree of corruption or mismanagement along the chain of command, and I wouldn’t be surprised if even the Japanese government stepped in to investigate. This is a massive breach of security that will take a long time for Seikatsu to recover from.
★ 29
Tzuyu_main | 04:20am
Is that a… a… FEMALE GIRL??
★ -6
Anonymous | 7:31pm
chiefzach2018 | 10:00am
MrChips | 8:51am
Tzuyu_main | 04:20am
