ALL JAPAN DAY 2025

This will be long and lack any sort of direction, forgive me.

This All Japan Day was far more relaxed for me, as I decided early on I wouldn't be making a video like last year:

As a result I picked up fellow enthusiast/blog author Nick at about 10:30ish in the Vortex. Flying in from Canada at 4:00AM Nick somehow still had energy, and as we cruised down south we picked apart the in's & out's of the strange Subaru.

I did feel a touch guilty that it only received a garden hose spray-down & leaf blower dry off. Good enough for Nick's first impressions.

Now from about here-on-out you are going to read the writings of someone who allowed his mind to wander and instincts dictate when to take a photo. In other words if you want a comprehensive run down of AJD, this is NOT it.

Out the gate I enjoyed seeing not one but two triple-S datto Stanza's. I know the Stanza is a boring boxy sedan to most, but I'm a sucker for sports allure, and the SSS paint schemes deliver. Sadly my favourite of the three looks was absent (yellow-black two tone).

P.S. Like this one from reddit.

P.P.S. It reminds me of the MFP livery from the first MAD MAX.

Getting back to the ones we did see...

And sitting next to it, another eye candy I've crossed paths with before...

I froth this wagon bad. I met and chatted with the owner at Subinats24' in Sydney. Superlites, EJ swap, Haltech ECU and a fucking mint paint job amongst other attributes leave me drooling over it.

However, last year I chose a newer L-wagon as my stand out car/mint survivor, so as much as I'm attracted to this goes-anywhere and looks-great automobile, my attention went elsewhere.

Like this 1970 Crown (coupe) with it's vinyl roof. It caught me off guard with NSW registration and Japanese copycat American styling. I really liked the look, and with the number of older cars attending thinning out each year I felt lucky to see it. Continuing appreciation for time travel through cars was this charming Mazda 929 - RX4 Spec conversion.

This car was all class and wonderfully finished. The old logo esky in the back is one of those little bits of car show entertainment that 100% satisfies.

I really should have paid better attention to the info sheets to get more stories outa some of these cars, fortunately Nick was more focused than me. Even just that single sentence Sold new in Port Lincoln gives an incredible insight into another SA car that's outlived expectation (with a top job rebirth). A few of these sheets included great info like only paid $400 for it and so on.

Honourable inclusion this little R1hundred looking schmicko. I don't know much about these but I noticed some similarity in the shifter design to the EP3 Honda Civic.

Bingo, bango, bongo, I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go...

Bongo van. Bongo 1000.

I only became aware of the first generation Bongo van after being educated by my mate Zigg. Prior to that the Bongo van was just my brothers shitty Ford Econovan with a different badge. This rear engine, two-tone survivor was a total delight.

I'd be curious to know it this was sold new in SA? Moving on...

* Editors Note *

Taken from a Facebook post where the og owner was tagged.

This one is a bit more divisive. I'm not going to talk about the direction Jade is going with the car because I support personal expression. However, boy oh boy do I want to know her trick for avoiding SAPOL because it is a miracle this thing gets about.

Now going the opposite direction - Johno's Nissan Maxima (a highlight).

I did not expect a Nissan Sedan to focus my concentration in a sea of epic distraction. Stock as.

Lucky for Nick & I, we were able to catch a run down from Johno.

The car belonged to his Nan who fully optioned it (less a sound package) brand new in 1990. She kept it exceptionally mint right up until her passing. It was left to Johno who continues the legacy of preserving it for us to enjoy. Because of it's trim the car has the digital touch entry system which according to Wikipedia;

'allowed the windows to be lowered and the moon roof opened from outside the vehicle on a keypad integrated on the front door handle, without the key in the ignition.'

Johno also told us how his Nan covered the seats up with the sheepskin covers but didn't want to wear out the covers so added additional covers on top.

It was great fun learning about what most would consider an underwhelming car and a big reason I keep coming back to AJD. I can see these 90's Nissan's really becoming more historically significant every year. Some of these even had the holographic heads up display like in some Silvia's. Please Johno, get a dash mat and change nothing. Minter.

Crossing over to the second reserve (observations)...

Starlet on Holden hub caps.

Bog stock 180SX leaving.

Japanese Commodore lurking.

Wigley Reserve.

Well done to anyone who made it this far down. I repeat, this is instinctual, I'm barely covering any of this event.

I liked this alot.

I felt pathetically jealous of this.

I was loving this swift. Having only recently sold my Suzuki it was hitting home a little. I tried to convince Nick it's cool but without proof of a GTI conversion I don't think I sold him on it.

But we both agree this is sick. Can't hear it as you stare? Click HERE

Last year I managed to cop a lift to AJD-classic in Zigg's (at the time) recently acquired charged-AE101 rolla. We leaned into the sex-spec nature of the chariot and it was good fun. You can watch a corny montage below:

While I knew the 101 was entered in AJD this year, I didn't expect it to clean up this nice.

Purchased for it's engine it continues to be too-good for him to pull apart. Speaking of race cars...

Another Stanza! I know nothing about this ex Barry Bray machine other than it's purpose built and period as. Rather than copy someone else's homework watch this:

It's seeing cars like this and connecting them (despite nearly nothing in common) to the road going versions that I really love. And yes it's win on Sunday sell on Monday thinking but I stand by it. It would feel awesome burning around in a SSS Stanza pretending to be Barry Bray lapping at Sandown.

It's this kind of thinking that has me in awe when I come across cars like this...

Just do yourself a favour and watch the music video I'm In Love (Subaru) which stars another red Spec C.

As silly as it may sound Nick and I both reaffirmed to each other how the roof vent is definition cool.

Privileged to see one (let alone in red) after becoming overly invested in them (I blame Speedhunters). One day I just woke up and found myself less of a bugeye fan as my attraction shifted to blobeye. So when I coming across Chaydon Ford's Project car write up at uni I went further down the rabbit hole - a hole you can find HERE. And if you go back and watch my YouTube videos I always find an excuse to include an S203 whether it be AJD 24' or Subinats 24' so excuse me doing it here as well.

I think Nick and I both gravitated towards this car because it's a homologation car. We both own top trim cars (my Mazda & his Volvo) and while both have motorsport history there will forever be something superior about these ultra light-weight homologation cars once offered to the public. Never again will that happen.

Starting to wrap up I was totally unvaccinated for this R33...

Which was fine until I realized the roof was covered DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon graphics.

It really is shit like this that does my head in. Self expression is one thing but linking a media franchise with a completely different passion and culture confuses me. In other words, I just thought this was lame. Gassed up too many cars, overdue hating on some.

And the last pit stop for this post; a Magna on Telsa caps with US plates. Needs more low - but otherwise, fuck yeah.