No matter how many times I go to Japan, there is one element of their car culture that never gets old. And that element is: seeing Skylines! Hell, I own a Skyline but I still never get bored of hearing the growl of an RB echoing off the buildings in the downtown Tokyo metropolis. Sometimes [ … ]

Ask any of the staff around here and they might admit they’re a bit spoiled by the experiences they’ve gone through. Whether it is hot feature cars, insane events or even the smoking models we have to work with, the bar is continually raised. You have to really knock us out to get noticed ve [ … ]

Seem like only yesterday I was on the phone with Ken Block putting together an article. Back in 2004, Ken was hard at work putting together a trio of Subaru STi for the upcoming Gumball 3000 event. The move marked a long and successful relationship between the two and the proliferation of Rally an [ … ]

There is something to be said about dedication to the game. If you’re like most people when they come up against obstacles or financial challenges, they give up and move on. It happens all too often in the Sport Compact game where one person gets the stick from a shot, blows a car up then disappea [ … ]

Alright, here’s the deal – we see a load of S2000s here at PAS. Almost too many, thanks to the prices of these high-revving roadsters dropping dramatically in recent years. Many of them are predictable with their CE28Ns and J’s Racing aero and a variety of knockoff carbon fiber hoods. Of course, w [ … ]

 

If the enthusiast culture demands it, it will come to market. Since the 1950’s, automotive designers have been following the trends put forth by the aftermarket and car customizers. Trends like quad headlights, louvers and hood scoops are all trends the American car companies lifted from th [ … ]

Since this particular Ford truck was made before any of the staff here was even born, we were somewhat amazed by what we were looking at. Anything pre-1970s and we are lost for words when asked about the history of vehicles like this. When confronted with an unknown platform, it is time to ask aro [ … ]

Who knew what kind of twists and turns drifting would have made over the last decade. It went viral and grew from an obscure parking lot event to a major motorsports force in a few short years. Drifting demos put crowds into a frenzy at major open-wheel races like Long Beach and the Grand Prix of [ … ]

Nothing really influences the younger generations today more than pop culture. How they act, what they wear and, most vital for the health of the economy, what they buy is all determined by what is popular on TV, YouTube or has gone viral. Being relevant in this way was an important consideration fo [ … ]

Many people thought that when the Camaro and Firebird bounced last time, they were gone forever. The economy was on a downtick and gas prices were headed north, which meant any excessive power wasn’t needed. Consumers were after style and economy neither of which the F body had. After the huge out [ … ]

When it comes to bold moves from the Japanese automakers in the sports car arena, you don’t have to look much further than the Toyota Supra. Sure, the Skyline GT-R was causing the most damage on touring car circuits around the world, but the Toyota Supra claimed respect in even the most hardcore d [ … ]

Want to see where the trend in car modifications is going? Well, look no further than this Team Hybrid EVO 9. The mission statement behind this build was simple: make a sick looking Evo that could hold its own at shows and still be a street car. This is no trailer queen, but rather a daily driver [ … ]

I’m not sure who said it first, but I’ve always stuck with the philosophy that you are only as good as your last project car. It doesn’t matter what you did “back in tha day” but rather what have you done lately. With Grip Tuning, their approach is to take a project and continue to refine it over [ … ]

We talk a lot about the origins of the Sport Compact craze, and the discussion usually ends up with a reference or two to 1990s-era Honda Civics. Then when it comes to high tech JDM super cars, which were also debuting around the same time, it is almost unanimous that that was the starting point f [ … ]

Yes, you have seen this particular hue before. It isn’t coincidence that you are thinking, hey isn’t that the lime paint from the…uh…what’s it called? For those of you on the ball, it’s the lime green from the Dodge Charger applied to one best selling Japanese sports cars of all time – the 350Z [ … ]

Although it might be considered a controversial notion, Japan built an empire on emulating the inventions of others. Post WWII, they vowed to learn from their opponents and ramped up manufacturing to record levels. While in the beginning, the ‘MADE IN JAPAN’ stamp was less than desirable, th [ … ]