The Local Petrolhead - JohorX2 Street Car Meet Up Vol.2
Loud revving exhausts, pops and bangs (and flames) filling a multi-story carpark with probably dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and dioxide. The life expectancy of everyone there has probably decreased by 10 years and may have experienced permanent hearing loss, but what a way to spend a Saturday night.
This most enjoyable way for a petrolhead to spend a Saturday night was courtesy of the JohorX2 Street Car Meet Up Vol.2, an event organised by the X Johore Motorsport Scene. This event was envisioned to be a “Tokyo style” meet up, whereby cars essentially just meet in a multi-storey car park.
Being a petrolhead, and if you are reading this the off-chance is that you are indeed one, you may have come across stories about the legendary car meets in Tokyo at places like Daikoku or Tatsumi, where JDM legends and tricked out supercars congregate once the sun goes down in the land of the rising sun. So how does a Tokyo-style car gathering some 5300 km away from Tokyo in the southern-most state of Malaysia compare?
In short, pretty damn well.
Yes there are a few more cars with (to put it kindly) interesting modifications and there weren’t any ultra rare, ultra flashy, ultra expensive piece of automotive exotica (modified or otherwise, no LaFerrari or Zonda Anija here), but there were still some awesome cars on display. The variety of cars on display was also breathtaking.
When has anyone ever seen a heavily modified R33 GTR on hydraulics with a turbo the size of a human head being parked next to a Pontiac Grand Ville? More to the point when was the last time anyone saw a Pontiac Grand Ville?
There was also this Perodua Kancil that has been converted into a drag racing special with of course, a honking great turbo attached to its 3 cylinder engine.
Or this Honda Odyssey with a Liberty Walk wide body kit. Talking to its owner, apparently it was the first Liberty Walk kit for this generation of Odyssey.
Of course, one can’t call it a Tokyo style car meet without at least one bull showing up. This time it was a Lamborghini Huracan Performante. Coming into the brightly lit car park from the inky blackness of night, it was as if a devil has emerged from the darkness into the light.
It also couldn’t be called a Tokyo style car meet without some actual JDM representation, here’s just one of the many stunners on display.
No car meet would be complete without some hooning though, and some cars did indeed put up a good show. As the night wore on, revs from RB26DETTs and 2-JZs (to name a few) echo throughout the car park. Being in an enclosed space just amplified the sounds of those sonorous engines, flames spewing out from exhaust tips while the crowds cheered on.
This brings me on to what makes car meets like that so great, its not about the theme of the event or even the (supposedly forbidden) hooning and revving (although it does add to the atmosphere), but its the people who were there that really made the event.
Everyone there is united for their passion for cars. It crosses racial, ideological and even linguistic barriers. The owners and drivers there willingly spend too long a time discussing even the most intricate of details with you, and you’ll happily listen because more often than not their stories are fascinating.
When one engine starts up and begins its sonorous solo, the whole crowd gravitates as one, towards the source of the noise. And when the solo comes to a close, cheers and claps erupt immediately. This wholesome source of enjoyment from the crowd really crystallises the sense of united passion for a common cause — the car.
It was noisy, it was hectic, my lungs are probably still all filled with carbon monoxide and my ears are still ringing a week on from the event, but it was such an enjoyable experience. Partly for the amazing cars on display, but at the same time having to meet all the wonderful people who are so deeply passionate about doing the things they love.
And now, some snapshots from the night.
Full disclaimer: I’m NOT a professional photographer and I only went with a two year old phone and a rather crappy digital camera. I also do not have the skills of a professional photographer and/or photo editor so excuse the potato quality photos.
And now a special section dedicated to the Toyota AE86 — the coolest car (in my opinion) in the carpark. There it was next to two of its younger cousins, the Toyobaru twins. akin to an old master overseeing the new young RWD touge generation.
If you’ve scrolled this far, just a word of thanks for making it down here. Do consider sharing this to every petrolhead to spread the joy. Also consider checking this upstart petrolhead site out!
One more thing, I’m always on the look out for interesting car stories to write about. Check out The Common Car segment for more amazing car stories from even the most mundane of cars. So if anyone has a car story to share feel free to drop me an email at thecommoncar.driveeveryday@gmail.com. Please include the details of the car that you wish to share the story of.
Preferably looking for cars and car stories from Malaysia from the KL and JB area, but anyone is welcome to drop me an email regardless of location barring probably Antartica (It’s a bit cold there. )