Daikoku Futo

You can hear it but you can’t see it.  Roads loop round above your head.  Throaty exhaust notes resonate off the top deck of the stacked carriageway above.  You know it’s heading towards you but you can’t quite work out from which direction.  Where is it?  What is it?  Eventually it pulls in to the car park.  Were you expecting a baby blue Lamborghini Countach?  Neither was I.

“Let’s go to Daikoku Futo!”

The offer of going to the equivalent of a motorway services car park to look at some cars wouldn’t have immediate appeal to many (most?) people, but I was intrigued. Our friends took us to Daikoku Futo parking area on a sunny Sunday morning.  It is situated in the middle of a small island of land in Tokyo bay.

Interesting cars from all over the world at Daikoku Futo

I started this by describing an Italian supercar from the 80s.  Isn’t this website supposed to be about Japanese cars?  Don’t worry, these were well-represented.  In the pictures below you’ll see:  Nissan Skyline GTR (R33 & R34), Mazda RX7 & RX8, Daihatsu Copen, Honda S2000, Suzuki Cappuchino and Nissan Leaf amongst others.  I particularly enjoyed the environmental goodness of the Leaf being undone by a Hummer driving past behind it whilst it was charging up.  American muscle was further represented in the form of a couple of black Mustangs.

You’ll see from the pictures below that there were a lot of non-Japanese cars.  I guess this is a reflection of all of us wanting something different from the normal offerings.  That same desire for something different drives the existence of this website.

The best car show

Visiting Daikoku Futo was an amazing experience and a great example of how much car ownership is enjoyed and how seriously it is taken in Japan.  I got up close to more supercars here than I ever have at a ‘proper’ car show.

People turn up in their best/current favourite car and park it up.  There is no official organisation, it is just a car park after all.  But the ad-hoc organisation is there: with marques (and if there are enough of them individual models) parked together.  Every car I saw was immaculately presented.  I gather it is a fun place to go car spotting in the evenings too.  If you enjoy cars and you’re in the area, I highly recommend a visit.  I’ll finish with some pictures to inspire you!  These are only a small selection of the cars present on that day.

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