Import Car Scene

The Import scene

The Import scene or Import racing scene refers to the subculture that revolves around modifying imported brand cars (commonly referred to as imports), especially those of Japanese brands, for street racing in the United States. These modified cars are sometimes pejoratively referred to as rice rockets (sometimes also refers to Japanese motorcycles), rice burners or ricers. The culture was originally associated with Asian American youth [1], however, thanks to movies like "The Fast and the Furious", it has become a mainstream phenomenon among youth of all races in the United States. Women who modify their cars have become a significant presence in the scene and commerce has responded with specific marketing campaigns geared toward women, such as NOPI (Number One Parts, Inc.) Chick.

History

There is significant evidence indicating that import drag racing first started in Southern California in the mid-1960s, with Volkswagen Beetles, including documentation of quarter-mile passes published in Hot Rod Magazine as early as August of 1965. The island of Puerto Rico also has a long history of pioneering import drag racing in the mid 1970s and 1980s, and it is still a huge sport on the island. In the early 1990s, front wheel drive vehicles, mostly Hondas, gained popularity in Southern California. There were huge drag racing events at Palmdale, California, that packed in over 10,000 spectators per day. Racers like Stephen Papadakis, Ed Bergenholtz, and Myles Bautista dominated the first import drag racing circuit IDRA (Battle of the Imports) in the mid 1990s. Show car clubs became a huge factor within the import scene: Southern California had Team Kosoku, Northern California had Z.Team Yossi. Car modifying has been very popular among youth in the United States, especially in Southern California, for decades since the days of hot rods in the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1990s, enthusiasts in southern California began to modify compact Japanese cars, following similar trends in Japan. This Japanese racing scene can be seen in the anime series Initial D, which focuses mainly on drifting.

Car shows

The car show scene emerged with the pioneer event called Import Showoff and was the first of its kind. Modified cars are often exhibited at car shows, such as Hot Import Nights (HIN), Extreme Autofest and NOPI. Hot Import Nights is the largest of the car shows in this space with over 20 events across the US reaching over 250,000 enthusiasts. Endemic vendors sell various products at these car shows including sound equipment for cars and other car modification products. Non-endemic vendors and sponsors like XM Satelite Radio, Hanes, Pepsi and Rockstar Energy Drinks participate in these events to target the young, mostly male, demographics attracted to these shows. Frequently, models are present at these shows to pose in front of cars. These models are known as import models or "booth babes" and have gained massive popularity among those in the import scene. Increasingly, music (mostly hip-hop, urban and electronica) has become a large part of these events. Whether its DJ's spinning the latest tracks, up and coming recording stars or B-Boys and go-Go dancing, the lights, the sound and the movement have become a staple of these multi-faceted shows.

Negative stereotypes

Another cultural development, gaining prominence around the turn of the century, has been the division between enthusiasts primarily interested in modifications with likely performance gains (usually for racing applications) or performing significant, custom stylistic modifications (as with show cars), and individuals using inexpensive, off-the-shelf equipment to give their vehicles a trendy look. The term "ricing", related to the older slang term "rice burner", has emerged, used pejoratively to refer to this general style of lower cost, non-performance-enhancing vehicle modification. General examples of products and modifications involved include Altezza-style tail lights, neon lights, stickers, windshield squirter lights, chrome rims, large spoilers and spray painted interiors. Many of the accessories generally included in this style are considered gimmicky or unattractive by dedicated motor enthusiasts, and some, such as unnecessarily loud exhaust systems or non-standard lighting, may be a nuisance to the general public or even illegal. Some modifications actually make the car slower, by adding weight or aerodynamic drag, or can damage the car.

Motion pictures

"Drag-racing teams may not actually be populated by shiny-pated hunks like Vin Diesel or tough beauties like Michelle Rodriguez, but in other ways the film got it right. Diesel's chief rivals are a tough oriental gang; the real-life Z.Team Yossi, led by the fearsome Tai brothers, are one of the most successful drag-racing teams in California. Shaun Tai has got his nitrous oxide-powered VW Tessa under the 10-second mark in various official meetings, while the Yossi's group of sexy "Hunnies" are there to bring some glamour to the all-oriental team wherever they race." - Saturday September 8, 2001, The Guardian UK

The import scene has been portrayed in these mainstream movies:

The Fast and the Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Biker Boyz
Initial D

Japanese products

Another aspect of the Import scene is Japanese products that either explores or details such racing, which often introduces new fans to the scene. These are usually found through DVD's and books.

DVDs

Some of the more well known DVDs about the Import scene include:

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) (first sequel)
Best Motoring
Street Fury
Torque Video Magazine
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) (second sequel)
Video Option (alternativly known as JDM Option)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)

Anime and manga

Two Japanese Anime and manga have been attributed to the growing Import scene in some form or another. A common theme is that both characters are seen as complete underdogs with hidden and untapped talent, and drive what amounts to antiquated cars that many would deem either ready for the scrapheap or severely underpowered compared to much better tuned and modified cars.

The anime and manga Initial D stars Takumi Fujiwara as he is introduced to Touge racing after it is found that he has a natural ability to race in the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. This has spawned several arcade games, which utilizes cars from both the manga, plus other cars associated with touge racing. The cars are setup more to take the tight mountain passes and emphasis is placed more on driver ability rather than speed and power. The series at first gained popularity via fansubs and bootlegs, until TOKYOPOP translated both the anime and manga. However, some have criticized TOKYOPOP's translation of the proeprty, with major changes to both the story and the content.

On the opposite spectrum, Wangan Midnight focuses on the vast and wide Shuto Expressway of Tokyo. Akio Asakura is an ambitious racer whom after an incident with Tatsuya Shima (aka Blackbird), acquires the Nissan 240Z known only as the Devil Z due to the reputation that all but one of its previous owners got killed trying to tame its power, and quickly makes a name for himself on the Wangan. The cars are designed for speed and power, and are based on the exploits of street racers whom used the Wangan as their own personal racetrack. The cars often were modified to attain high horsepower (this is reflected in the arcade game: it allows cars to attain horsepower to the 815 HP mark, at the cost of virtually no grip) with bodykits and other modifications to make the cars go fast. While not as well known as Initial D, the series gained a cult following after the arcade game Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune was ported to the US by Namco.

Video games

Numerous video games have been produced about import racing, including:

Initial D Arcade Stage
Juiced
Midnight Club series
Midnight Outlaw series
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (also includes muscle cars, european car tuners and other sports cars)
Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Street Legal Racing: Redline
Street Racing Syndicate
Tokyo Xtreme Racer series
Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune
West Coast Streets Tricked n' Tuned

Magazine publications

There are many magazines published following this scene. They often include tutorials for car modification and feature sexy models.

The following is a list of such magazines (and country of origin, those not mentioned are from the US):

HSPN Networks
Car and Model
Import Tuner
D-Sport (formerly Drag Sport)
OverRev
TMR
Turbo & high-tech performance
Sport Compact Car
Honda Tuning
HSPN TV
Super Street
Import Racer
Option Auto (France - not related with the Option magazine from Japan)
Elaborare
Chrome und Flammen (Germany)
AutoPress
Elite Streets Magazine
Performance Auto & Sound
Option (Japan)
Hyper Rev (Japan) - Famous for their performance guide books
J Tuner (UK)
Japanese Performance (UK)
Banzai (UK)
Modified Mag
Most of the Tuner Magazines are printed by Primedia Publications (notably Import Tuner, Super Street and Honda Tuning.)