Each generation of cars brings with it a new generation of car enthusiasts and modifications intended to get the best out of them or make them look the most striking they can.
This is something we are beginning to see with the surge in popularity of electric cars and the popularity of wraps and details that highlight how striking and unique they can be, particularly since so many EVs are far faster than they may initially appear.
However, every innovation or popular trend in car culture will generate a modding scene. The rise of the hot hatchback in the 1980s led to the rise of a car tuning culture in the UK most famously captured by the likes of Max Power magazine.
There was also a British sports car and kit car modding scene, the American hot rod and pony car modding scenes and, more recently, the far-reaching restomod scene that aims to not only refresh old cars but make them the best they could possibly be.
However, one of the most fascinating car cultures over the past three decades has been found in the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM), which has proven to be highly influential not only in Southeast Asia but also around the world.
It reached its peak in the 1990s and early 2000s when the focus of Japanese cars shifted from smaller kei cars to performance saloons, hatchbacks and coupes and several modding cultures began to emerge throughout Japan.
What is fascinating about this scene is that a huge reason for its enduring popularity could potentially be credited to a comic and associated animated series that bridged the gap between several generations of JDM enthusiasts.
Pioneers, Myths And The Legend Of The Wangan
The popularity of JDM as a modding culture can be credited to several early pioneers that proved to not only be inspirational to drivers and mechanics but also to writers and filmmakers.
There were two parallel histories to Japanese car culture, one shaped by touge, Keiichi Tsuchiya, Pluspy and later Initial D, whilst the other was shaped by the Mid Night Club, Freeway Speedway and Wangan Midnight.
The JDM scene is defined by defying limitations; since 1974, cars were fitted with a speed chime that constantly rang when a car exceeded 65 mph, something that was removed in 1986 and replaced with voluntary speed and horsepower limiters.
From 1987 until 1999, one of the most famous modding scenes was the Mid Night Club, a group of drivers known for exotic cars, extensive modifications and an astonishing turn of speed, rumoured to be due to owners of famous Japanese tuning shops being secret members.
Whilst the club maintained a rather notorious code of silence when it came to their driving, the cars themselves became famous fixtures of the Bayshore Route, often known simply as the Wangan.
Mid Night inspired a series of controversial films depicting their street races across the Wangan, which in turn inspired the creation of a comic series called Wangan Midnight.
Based on the rivalry between the Yoshida Special Porsche 930s and the Air-Breathing Research Hosoki Z-Car Nissan 280ZX, Wangan Midnight was a manga series first serialised in 1990.
The story revolves around Asio Asakura, a high school student and street racer who buys an old Nissan Fairlady S30 that has received the nickname “Devil Z” due to its extreme modifications, level of speed and history of crashes due to being notoriously difficult to control.
Getting this car brings him into a rivalry with the fastest car on the Wangan, the Porsche 911 Turbo (930) “Blackbird”, another highly tuned car based heavily on the Yoshida Special, driven by Surgeon Tatsuya Shima.
The primary focus of the story is their rivalry, but other car enthusiasts join the race at various points.
The manga became extremely popular, being published in serialised form for 18 years, with sequel series still being published to this day, as well as 12 straight-to-video films, a theatrical release in 2009 heavily inspired by TheFast and The Furious, as well as an anime adaptation in 2007.
It also was adapted into a very popular series of arcade games in a vein similar to the similarly popular Initial D Arcade Stage. Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune managed to remain popular in arcades even as the idea of dedicated arcade machines started to decline in popularity.
Whilst it was not the genesis of the import scene, the influence of this series introduced a new generation of car enthusiasts to modification and tuning with a level of influence similar to The Fast and The Furious in the United States.
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