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 foreign countries. Thanks to movies like The Fast and the Furious (2001), it has become a mainstream phenomenon. In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, culture, which could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they belong. ... Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal auto racing which takes place on public roads. ... The Fast and the Furious (known as Wild Speed in Japan) is a 2001 car film starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, and directed by Rob Cohen. ... This article is about the year. ...

History

Car modifying has been very popular among youth in the United States, especially in Southern California, since the days of hot rods in the 1950s and 1960s. There is significant evidence indicating that import drag racing first started in Southern California in the mid-1960s, with Volkswagen Beetles, Sit-up-and-beg Ford Populars and Austin A40 Devons 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 late 1980s and early 1990s, front wheel drive vehicles, at first Datsuns and later mostly Hondas, gained popularity in Southern California. Young Asian American street racers played a particularly important role in the development of the early street racing scene. Many enthusiasts in southern California also began to modify their compact Japanese cars, following similar trends that originated in Japan. Arising from the street culture, import racing venues eventually arose and huge drag racing events at Palmdale, California often 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 Macross 7, Team Kosoku, Northern California had Z.Team Yossi, while the east coast had the Jade Crew (still active to this day). This Japanese racing scene can be seen in the anime series Initial D, which focuses mainly on mountain pass racing and Wangan Midnight which deals with high-speed expressway racing. T-Bucket hot rod Hot rods are older, often historical, cars. ... Top Fuel dragster Drag racing is a sport in which cars race down a track with a set distance as fast as possible. ... This article is about the region of Southern California. ... This article is about the original Volkswagen Beetle. ... 1956 Ford Popular The Ford Popular is a car from Ford built in England between 1953 and 1959. ... See Austin A40 for other A40 models and Austin A40 Sports for the sports car version of the Devon. ... Nissan Motor Co. ... This article is about the Japanese motor corporation. ... Motto: Aerospace Capital of America Location of Palmdale in Los Angeles County, California Coordinates: , Country United States of America State California County Los Angeles Government  - Mayor James C. Ledford Jr. ... Animé redirects here. ... For other uses, see Initial D (disambiguation). ... Touge ) is a Japanese word literally meaning pass. ... Wangan Midnight ) is an ongoing seinen racing manga series created by Michiharu Kusunoki that has been serialized in Kodanshas Young Magazine since 1992. ...

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 DVDs and books.

DVDs

Some of the more well known DVDs about the import scene, apart from the movies listed above, include:

• Best Motoring
• Street Fury
• Torque Video Magazine
• Video Option (alternatively known as JDM Option)

Best Motoring is Japans preeminent automotive magazine, video, and DVD series. ... Street Fury is a TV show on G4 that showcases cars and women. ... Video Option was introduced in 1988 by Sunpro as a monthly video magazine version of the long running Option magazine The video has always being presented by Daijiro Inada, who do many of the tuner car road tests, either on a test track, on public road with Daijiros adventures...

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..they also had to race on the streets to earn respect and money to get to the top.. Animé redirects here. ... This article is about the comics created in Japan. ...

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 his father's nearly bone stock Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno. With his amazing skill he is able to defeat Mazda RX-7s, Nissan Skyline GT-Rs and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions. With 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 property, with major changes to both the story and the content. For other uses, see Initial D (disambiguation). ... Touge ) is a Japanese word literally meaning pass. ... A Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 (Hachiroku) in its natural environment, drifting on the racetrack The Toyota AE86 is a small, lightweight coupe introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Corolla line-up. ... The Mazda RX-7 (also called the Ẽfini RX-7) is a sports car produced by the Japanese automaker Mazda from 1978 to 2002. ... This article is for the Nissan sports coupe produced from 1969 to 2002. ... The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, colloquially known as the Evo, is a car manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors. ... For other uses, see Initial D (disambiguation). ... Fansub - short for fan subtitled; a copy of a foreign movie or television show (most often anime) which has been subtitled by fans into their native language. ... The Cathach of St. ... For the music movie, see Tokyo Pop. ...

On the opposite spectrum, Wangan Midnight focuses on the vast and wide Shuto Expressway of Tokyo. Akio Asakura is a high school student who likes to race on the Wangan highway, and whom after being defeated by a doctor(and a racer as well), Tatsuya Shima's Blackbird (a Porsche 911), accidentally acquires a monstrously powerful Datsun 240Z known as the The Devil Z. All but one of its previous owners got killed mysteriously in traffic accidents involving the Z, 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 820 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. Wangan Midnight ) is an ongoing seinen racing manga series created by Michiharu Kusunoki that has been serialized in Kodanshas Young Magazine since 1992. ... A map of the Expressway Shuto Expressway , lit. ... Porsche 911 in hillclimb The Porsche 911 (pronounced as nine eleven, neun elfer in German) is a sports car made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. ... The S30 Nissan/Datsun 240Z (known in Japan as the Fairlady Z and later in other markets as the 260Z and 280Z) are sports cars from Nissan of the 1970s. ... hp redirects here. ... For other uses, see Friction (disambiguation). ... The WMMT cards. ... This article is about Namco, a Japanese leisure company and game developer. ...

Magazine publications

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2007)

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):

• Drift Tengoku (Japan)
• Max Power UK
• Option (Japan)
• OverRev
• Sport Compact Car
• TMR
• Super Street
• Modified Mag
• Import Tuner

Max Power is a UK-based magazine covering the performance tuning car market. ... Option (オプション, Opushon in katakana) is a automotive magazine founded by Daijiro Inada in 1981, to meet the demand for enthusiasts of modified Japanese cars in Japan. ... OverRev Magazines September, 2005 cover featured NDRA Pro Outlaw RWD driver Brent Rau. ... Sport Compact Car is a magazine that focuses on racing and modifying compact sports cars. ... If two ferromagnets are separated by a thin (about 1 nm) insulator, the resistance of the tunneling current changes with the relative orientation of the two magnetic layers. ...

See also

• VIP style
• Boy racer
• Cruising (driving around)
• Drag racing
• Drifting
• Engine tuning
• Hot hatch
• Hot rod
• Kustom Kulture
• Import model
• Lowrider
• Sport compact
• Rice burner
• Sleeper (car)
• Street racing
• Team Hybrid

axis wheels (axis sport tuning) A Toyota Mark II with modifications associated with VIP Style. ... A Boy racer is a person- usually male and in their late teens or early 20s- who drives his car over the speed limit for fun. ... Cruising is a social activity among teenagers in many United States towns that primarily consists of driving a car around looking for friends. ... Top Fuel dragster Drag racing is a sport in which cars race down a track with a set distance as fast as possible. ... Drifting in technical racing terms refers to a cars slip angle. ... For other uses, see tuning. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Sport compact. ... T-Bucket hot rod Hot rods are older, often historical, cars. ... Still from Hot Rod Girls Save The World (Go-Kustom Films, 2007) Kustom Kulture is a US neologism used to describe the artwork, the vehicles, the hairstyles, and the fashions of those who drove and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through... 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. ... For other uses, see Lowrider (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hot hatch. ... A riced Dodge Neon, including clear taillights, an overly large rear spoiler despite being a front wheel drive car, Fart cannon tailpipe, non-functional hood scoop, body kit, despite having no performance modifications to the engine. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Q-car. ... Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal auto racing which takes place on public roads. ...

References

AXIS WHEELS (Axis Sport Tuning)

External links

• Import Tuner Magazine