8 Stunning Cars from Tokyo Auto Salon

A dispatch from our friends at RHD Guys (plus photos!)

TOKYO AUTO SALON is the Japanese equivalent of the SEMA Show — an outrageous display of customized and modified vehicles. The difference is that Japan has a style all its own. And the cars at TAS reflect that.

This year’s show put all the latest trends and styles on display, ones that we should expect to see influencing style in the U.S. for years to come. For an inside look, we spoke with Bobby from the RHD Guys podcast about his visit to the show.

Portions of this interview have been edited for brevity. Photos by Bobby Rosso.

---

2024 TOKYO AUTO SALON SHOW-STOPPERS

Mine’s R34 Skyline GT-R

RHD: This car is super iconic from back in the day as one of three Mine’s demo cars. To stand next to a car that inspired me personally to get an R34 was super cool. The biggest thing was a new green carbon fiber rear spoiler, and mirrors and kenards. They were such a deep green — normally carbon fiber is a standard black and this green tint just looked crazy. I don’t even think Mine’s could handle the demand they’ll get for those. Japanese enthusiasts are more reserved, unlike a lot of Americans.

RACE DAY: Mine’s parts are super coveted by GT-R owners in the U.S., its strut bars and front carbon spoiler in particular. These new green carbon bits could become red-hot commodities here in the states. Also do you see those wheels??? Whoo!

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) Type R

RHD: I liked that this could be a street car, in the sense of, it’s not completely aero’ed out like a racecar. It still had an interior. The Civic Type R Super GT car was next to it but this was more like something someone could attain and still drive on the street, with parts available to the general public.

RACE DAY: The FL5 Civic Type R is noticeably more reserved than its FK8 predecessor, so it’s cool to see Honda offer ways to spruce it up. It will be interesting to see how Type R owners take inspiration from this.