I used to work at a hot rod shop that specialized in these cars back in high school. Most of the cars in the video are early 30s. Nearly all the cars here have removed their fenders. A car w/o fenders is referred to as a ‘highboy’ and this was a very popular modification when these cars came out. Lots of the cars in this video also have the trumpet style headers, which were also incredibly popular. Many of the cars have had their engines swapped to a Chevrolet 350, despite being primarily Ford models. Likely due to availability and reliability.
A hot rod without fenders isn't necessarily a highboy. A lot of these cars have the bodies channeled over the frame, so not a highboy. I saw very few SBCs. I did see a lot of Flathead Fords and Bangers and the such. All pretty normal for traditional hot rods. There are also plenty of cars from the 20s as well.
@@edumacted all you see nowadays is "ls swap" everywhere or "crate motor" but not hot rodding and classic cars restoration and driving them, everywhere being 1000 hp garage queens that "will probably make under 10's in the strip" but are all sound and lights, started once a year for an exhibition and put to rest until its price soars up and gets sold again.
As a traditional hot Rod enthusiast here in the United States, I honestly think that the hot rod culture in Japan goes above and beyond what we do in the states. Their sheer amount of passion for what they do is through the roof! I can’t wait to go to Japan for the Mooneyes show!
@@WhuDhat the quality of lowriders in Japan put lowriders in the U.S. to shame (in general). I built a lowrider when I lived in California over 10 years ago. It was extremely hard to find a quality fabricator that had attention to detail, and that I trusted. I ended up hauling my car to Vegas to get the frame off fabrication done and hydraulics installed.
Many people in the comments are calling these cars rat rods. These are traditional hot rods with similar and perioid correct mods that 40s-60s hot rods had. Maybe some these were even originally built during that era. Rat rod is a newer thing. Rust, dents and other imperfections don’t make hot rod a rat rod. Rat rods are made to look ratty on purpose and usually have modern parts.
I love it so much my grandpa used to do this kind of dirt circle track racing in Michigan. Tying the springs was a super common modification. Definitely 40s-50s racers really wish my grandpa was still around to show this video too I'm sure he would have gotten a kick from this
Ah, the good old Ford Flathead. 130 optimistic hp at a whopping 4500 rpm but damn do they always sound good. So nice to see people out there having fun with these cars. If this were in America, there'd be countless crying baby dolls propped up against them and tons of boomers in Hawaiian shirts sitting in foldable chairs behind them. Japanese once again doing our car culture better in most cases.
I'm willing to bet a few of these were former trailer queens or show cars and their former owners have no idea how their living in Japan now having the snot driven out of them.
My thoughts exactly! I never thought I’d see cars like this being driven like this. If they weren’t garage queens sadly they probably wouldn’t be in as good of shape
@@jamesricks reguardless if they were garage queens In their past life or not I’m surprised at how most of them seem to have stock original body panels that are in damn good shape for how old they are
haha I can just imagine a guy selling his polished pride and joy on bring a trailer and the auction closes, he excitedly waits for the results... YES!! he got more than he expected, where is it going? JAPAN‽, WHAT‽‽‽
As an American, it always amazes me how much other countries know about our history, while we as Americans (collectively) know so little about other countries’ histories. We aren’t taught any other history than American history in school until college, and usually it’s voluntary. Very cool to see these folks enjoying these ratrods!
I live in a blue collar enclave on the west coast of the US. The town next to me is know for hot rods, kustoms and an active chapter of the Hells Angels, while my city was known for Lowriders (my city made cruising illegal in '98). It's awesome to see the Japanese replicating our car culture! My neighbor who built a show '61 Impala mentioned some of his buddies in his club being approached by Japanese fans and being offered over 100k for their rides on the spot! The only thing that bugs me is that as these rides age and international interest gets bigger, it's becoming more and more of a rich man's hobby. Back in the day, lowrider clubs had a guys who was a mechanic, another dude who was an electrician, a body guy and they would help each other out building some dope cars. Now these cars are becoming unattainable as the day goes by! Anyways, I'm not on here to hate, I love the attention to detail the Japanese crowd strives for!
Big engines and skinny tires, sliding around in the dirt? That's honestly not far off Grand Prix racing in the 1910's and 1920's. I've always loved the idea of thrashing an old Bugatti or Fiat down a dusty road, this is basically the next best thing!
Thank you for sharing this part of car culture and not just JDM and drifting, sure i like that to! but i love american classic cars, i drive a 63 Cadillac my self and it is fun to se how the Japanese do Hot Rodding and Classic cars over there :) Cheers!
Man, I love your vids. The shot at 3:37 was funny, and the short explanation at 4:04 is appreciated, I've always seen those landscapes in my Japanese animus, now I know why.
As someone who used to live deep within the hills of moonshine country, I love seeing this. NASCAR started from bootleggers pitting their modified cars against each other.
Japan:"The space next to the river cannot be used for housing because of potential flooding." Politicians in my country:"(let's pretend we did not hear that), cheap real estate people!"
It's always amazing to see so much passion going into so many diverse topics in one place, that's something I notice when visiting. I think having such a large population helps to fill out these niche hobbies but I also found a willingness to just commit and go do the things that was really cool.
Many of the cars are from the 20s and 30s, but the vast majority of these are 40s-50s style traditional rods, although there were a few prewar style roadsters in the mix. Also looking at the cars in the video, the registration thing must apply to atleast 1933. The Dodge Dart was also cool, looks like the owner is going for an early 60s factory super stock look. American manufacturers were heavily involved in drag racing in the early 60s, so you could get factory lightweight/high power cars intended for super stock drag racing.
Awesome machines and what a great venue. These guys sure know how to have fun. Very cool and surprising event report, thank you Alexi👍 Keep thinking, Japanese moonshine, a world market awaits.
Most of what you are seeing is they typical "Lake" or "Lakester" style, especially the red Ford(?) with the rounded nose on it. Also, most of the time when they run no fenders and jack up the rear to give it a rake in the front you would call that a "HiBoy" but thats usually reserved for more of a pristine Hot Rod and not the Rat Rod style that seems to be the other theme here
So so cool! I had no idea there was/is that much classic iron in Japan! Add: On style, some are going for the 'Rat Rod' look, but I see a lot of pure PostWar classic hot rods, when soldiers were returning from over seas and souping up the average two door/coupe, striping them down for weight and going for a ride. Also a few 'moonshiner specials' for good measure!
Oh shit! A trip down memory lane . . . my aunt had one one of those shoebox Fords her nickname was “Barney Oldfield” lol! I used to drift my pickup truck on dirt roads . . . I thought I was Stirling Moss! I’m 77 years old. 👍👍😁
Alexi, I love this video thank you so much for putting it together and sharing with the world. It’s hilarious to me that here in the states there are so many going all-out to emulate foreign styles, just like anywhere else. What’s cool is cool, and there’s always someone to think as much. These are some of my favorite styles of vintage American cars from my favorite eras. They know what they’re doing, and it’s a damn good time. That’s what I’m all about.
This is amazing, Its like watching vintage dirt track racing only with quality video. American car owners are typically to scared to take their vintage cars out in the rain let alone on the track.
Oh my god yessss. I'm just as much as a hot rod and T.R.O.G *the race of gentlemen* fan as I am a jdm drift touge and grip fan. Maaaan this was good to see. Cheers mate.
Japan does cars like nothing else. They have more fun with and dedicate everything for the perfect car. Alexi sharing these “weird car niche” videos from japan inspires me to make more car content here in Japan to share with the world.
Now this is a video that I can get behind! I'm not really into the whole Japanese car scene, that you usually show, but I like watching your videos because they're well made. Plus I'm a fan of expat Aussies that like to do their thing in their overseas country of choice. I'm also an expat Aussie, living in Canada, and following the hot rodding scene as much as I can around the local American states. Keep up the good work mate! Great video.
Apologies in advance for my terrible Texas accent. More info about this event on Instagram instagram.com/babbittbank_trophy/
It's ok. I live in Texas and have a terrible accent too. Lol
we need more american car event coverage just to hear more of your accent LOL
Australians are just British Texans lol
it was an amazing intro
I lived in Texas for 16 years. I think you'd fit right in around Houston or San Antonio with that accent tbh
Somewhere in an alternate universe, there’s an American Alexi imitating an Australian Accent
Hahaha
He was scary good at that ngl
Doubt it Americans don't know there is a Australia
@@charleyharris4943 isn't Australia a region in New Zealand?
All ute event
Love how japan just does everything
Literally. I’m from America originally and haven’t even seen anything like this there.
Japan does everything - what you want and a few things you definitely do not want
@@jamesricks Motivation quote: be the American the Japanese think you are
well, besides fire arms
@@jamesricks You’re not from the right part of America then
The flag lady’s enthusiasm 100% made me smile
I used to work at a hot rod shop that specialized in these cars back in high school. Most of the cars in the video are early 30s. Nearly all the cars here have removed their fenders. A car w/o fenders is referred to as a ‘highboy’ and this was a very popular modification when these cars came out. Lots of the cars in this video also have the trumpet style headers, which were also incredibly popular.
Many of the cars have had their engines swapped to a Chevrolet 350, despite being primarily Ford models. Likely due to availability and reliability.
I'm not familiar with these cars at all, so thanks for the extra info!
A hot rod without fenders isn't necessarily a highboy. A lot of these cars have the bodies channeled over the frame, so not a highboy. I saw very few SBCs. I did see a lot of Flathead Fords and Bangers and the such. All pretty normal for traditional hot rods. There are also plenty of cars from the 20s as well.
It is common to see a old ford engine swapped to a Chevy because there are more modes for them
I love this "Cars were built to be driven" attitude. I wish we could get back to that, both with modern, but also classic cars.
Isn't that why we have Wayne Carini and Jay Leno in this timeline?
@@lordofrims if those are the only people you can name with this attitude then something needs to change
@@edumacted all you see nowadays is "ls swap" everywhere or "crate motor" but not hot rodding and classic cars restoration and driving them, everywhere being 1000 hp garage queens that "will probably make under 10's in the strip" but are all sound and lights, started once a year for an exhibition and put to rest until its price soars up and gets sold again.
As a traditional hot Rod enthusiast here in the United States, I honestly think that the hot rod culture in Japan goes above and beyond what we do in the states. Their sheer amount of passion for what they do is through the roof! I can’t wait to go to Japan for the Mooneyes show!
are you familiar with their lowrider culture as well? I think that's where their passion shines the most
Right? Everything in US now is "Rat Rod" meaning "I pulled an absolutely rusted through 32 ford with barely any metal out of pond and put an LS in it"
@@WhuDhat the quality of lowriders in Japan put lowriders in the U.S. to shame (in general). I built a lowrider when I lived in California over 10 years ago. It was extremely hard to find a quality fabricator that had attention to detail, and that I trusted. I ended up hauling my car to Vegas to get the frame off fabrication done and hydraulics installed.
@@WhuDhat yes i am! They make Whittier Boulevard in California look like it isnt the top gun.
After reading your comment, now I know about the Mooneyes show in Japan, I never heard about it before, thanks for that!
Many people in the comments are calling these cars rat rods. These are traditional hot rods with similar and perioid correct mods that 40s-60s hot rods had. Maybe some these were even originally built during that era. Rat rod is a newer thing. Rust, dents and other imperfections don’t make hot rod a rat rod. Rat rods are made to look ratty on purpose and usually have modern parts.
There is literaly no one other than yourself that talk about Ratrod here, I scrolled all the way down ya clown
@@BLACKOMAMBO There were many comments earlier. I dont know why you cant see them. I even replied to some of them ”ya clown”. :D
God I love the Japanese. As an American from the south that drives a 50 year old pickup truck, I give this a huge two thumbs up.
I love it so much my grandpa used to do this kind of dirt circle track racing in Michigan. Tying the springs was a super common modification. Definitely 40s-50s racers really wish my grandpa was still around to show this video too I'm sure he would have gotten a kick from this
Ah, the good old Ford Flathead. 130 optimistic hp at a whopping 4500 rpm but damn do they always sound good. So nice to see people out there having fun with these cars. If this were in America, there'd be countless crying baby dolls propped up against them and tons of boomers in Hawaiian shirts sitting in foldable chairs behind them.
Japanese once again doing our car culture better in most cases.
lmao
I didn't expect this, so this is even more appreciated ✌️
Haha nobody can expect this
I'm willing to bet a few of these were former trailer queens or show cars and their former owners have no idea how their living in Japan now having the snot driven out of them.
My thoughts exactly! I never thought I’d see cars like this being driven like this.
If they weren’t garage queens sadly they probably wouldn’t be in as good of shape
@@jamesricks reguardless if they were garage queens In their past life or not I’m surprised at how most of them seem to have stock original body panels that are in damn good shape for how old they are
They also import things like low riders and there are a few very famous ones riding through Tokyo.
haha I can just imagine a guy selling his polished pride and joy on bring a trailer and the auction closes, he excitedly waits for the results... YES!! he got more than he expected, where is it going? JAPAN‽, WHAT‽‽‽
As an American, it always amazes me how much other countries know about our history, while we as Americans (collectively) know so little about other countries’ histories. We aren’t taught any other history than American history in school until college, and usually it’s voluntary.
Very cool to see these folks enjoying these ratrods!
Love the Offenhauser logo on the cylinder head there. Cool to see them running actual flatheads
Your accent is actually really good at the beginning. I moved to southern usa recently and have heard people talk just like you alexi
This is why you're the greatest JDM car channel on RUclips.
I never would've thought i'd see the words japanese, hotrods, dirt, and drifting all in one title
Haha for real
I live in a blue collar enclave on the west coast of the US. The town next to me is know for hot rods, kustoms and an active chapter of the Hells Angels, while my city was known for Lowriders (my city made cruising illegal in '98). It's awesome to see the Japanese replicating our car culture! My neighbor who built a show '61 Impala mentioned some of his buddies in his club being approached by Japanese fans and being offered over 100k for their rides on the spot! The only thing that bugs me is that as these rides age and international interest gets bigger, it's becoming more and more of a rich man's hobby. Back in the day, lowrider clubs had a guys who was a mechanic, another dude who was an electrician, a body guy and they would help each other out building some dope cars. Now these cars are becoming unattainable as the day goes by! Anyways, I'm not on here to hate, I love the attention to detail the Japanese crowd strives for!
Those cars and drivers are rad as hell. Super cool to see stuff like this all the way in Japan!
Big engines and skinny tires, sliding around in the dirt? That's honestly not far off Grand Prix racing in the 1910's and 1920's. I've always loved the idea of thrashing an old Bugatti or Fiat down a dusty road, this is basically the next best thing!
Thank you for sharing this part of car culture and not just JDM and drifting, sure i like that to! but i love american classic cars, i drive a 63 Cadillac my self and it is fun to se how the Japanese do Hot Rodding and Classic cars over there :)
Cheers!
Man, I love your vids. The shot at 3:37 was funny, and the short explanation at 4:04 is appreciated, I've always seen those landscapes in my Japanese animus, now I know why.
As someone who used to live deep within the hills of moonshine country, I love seeing this. NASCAR started from bootleggers pitting their modified cars against each other.
Is it weird that I was expecting TEs on at least one of them.? Japan is cool
3:45 that man is the embodiment of the word 'cool'
Japan:"The space next to the river cannot be used for housing because of potential flooding."
Politicians in my country:"(let's pretend we did not hear that), cheap real estate people!"
Hell yeah brother :noriboom:
the truck styling from that era til the 50's was the best style
that was the best southern accent impression ive ever heard. i currently live in alabama. you could've passed as an american for sure.
Flag girl is a whole vibe!
i want the hardly drivable jacket the guy had on at 3:37
Merch idea for Alexi?
Didn't know this sort thing existed here in Japan- thanks for sharing!
Dang Alexi, the GMC Savannah at 2:15 really hits home the America illusion
Hahahaha
It's always amazing to see so much passion going into so many diverse topics in one place, that's something I notice when visiting. I think having such a large population helps to fill out these niche hobbies but I also found a willingness to just commit and go do the things that was really cool.
Many of the cars are from the 20s and 30s, but the vast majority of these are 40s-50s style traditional rods, although there were a few prewar style roadsters in the mix. Also looking at the cars in the video, the registration thing must apply to atleast 1933. The Dodge Dart was also cool, looks like the owner is going for an early 60s factory super stock look. American manufacturers were heavily involved in drag racing in the early 60s, so you could get factory lightweight/high power cars intended for super stock drag racing.
The fragment on 5:59 looks and sounds perfect!
This was awesome ! Loved the music in the cinematic piece.
I’m convinced that the Japanese can make any car look good
Short wheelbase drifting is always so spicy 👍🏻
Hell yeah, love to see them old beasts being used correctly
the commitment to period correct modification is badass, props to these guys
They are japaneses. Perfectionism over everythng! :D
Still awesome.
Nothing like the sound of a flathead exhaust in the morning 🤠🦅
Awesome machines and what a great venue. These guys sure know how to have fun. Very cool and surprising event report, thank you Alexi👍
Keep thinking, Japanese moonshine, a world market awaits.
love that intro man. The rest of the video, editing fit so well.
Those are some of the coolest death traps I've seen in a while. Especially with those dust trails.
now this is what i really wanted to WATCH!! HOT RODS!!
Most of what you are seeing is they typical "Lake" or "Lakester" style, especially the red Ford(?) with the rounded nose on it. Also, most of the time when they run no fenders and jack up the rear to give it a rake in the front you would call that a "HiBoy" but thats usually reserved for more of a pristine Hot Rod and not the Rat Rod style that seems to be the other theme here
ahahaha that was a decent American accent considering i know our real voice. best intro ever
Haha the background was so perfect too. I totally thought he was filming in America for a sec
So so cool! I had no idea there was/is that much classic iron in Japan!
Add: On style, some are going for the 'Rat Rod' look, but I see a lot of pure PostWar classic hot rods, when soldiers were returning from over seas and souping up the average two door/coupe, striping them down for weight and going for a ride.
Also a few 'moonshiner specials' for good measure!
The real roots of drifting. 😄
Production value is off the charts, Alexi. Fucking amazing stuff.
Oh shit! A trip down memory lane . . . my aunt had one one of those shoebox Fords her nickname was “Barney Oldfield” lol! I used to drift my pickup truck on dirt roads . . . I thought I was Stirling Moss! I’m 77 years old. 👍👍😁
Nicee, once again coolest content from Japan, keep up the good work! That Dart is so good.
This is absolutely awesome. I wish America would have events like this, maybe a prohibition class in autocross and rally cross lol
Check out The Race of Gentlemen.
Alexi, I love this video thank you so much for putting it together and sharing with the world. It’s hilarious to me that here in the states there are so many going all-out to emulate foreign styles, just like anywhere else. What’s cool is cool, and there’s always someone to think as much.
These are some of my favorite styles of vintage American cars from my favorite eras. They know what they’re doing, and it’s a damn good time. That’s what I’m all about.
Your sound track selection is on point, alexi
Well this is the coolest thing I didn’t expect to see today
Never thought I'd ever see someone sliding a 5 window
lmao the opening, this event is amazing man
I’m 2 seconds in and this is the best episode YET!!!!!!! 🤘
This one was so fun! Very unique and you're right - every detail is spot on! Cheers from Florida
This is amazing, Its like watching vintage dirt track racing only with quality video. American car owners are typically to scared to take their vintage cars out in the rain let alone on the track.
Thanks for the Awesome video mate! Could we have a few more like this, kustom culture, choppers please. Cheers
this is absolutley one of the coolest things ive ever seen
those are some cool high boys my favorite style of 32 ford also that studabaker was super rare and cool
as an American, I whole heartedly approve.
give us your skylines and you can have our V8's
A fair trade
You make Japanese car culture look the coolest in the world. Thanks for all of your hard work!
Oh my god yessss. I'm just as much as a hot rod and T.R.O.G *the race of gentlemen* fan as I am a jdm drift touge and grip fan. Maaaan this was good to see. Cheers mate.
Japan really does have some of the coolest nice communities and hobbies you never knew existed!
that accent in the intro was awesome
EXCELENT!
In France, we have the "Normandy beach race" whitch is kind of a cross of 60's Daytona beach and Bonnevile hot rod races
This is awesome. So many cool cars. Nice video. Keep up the good work.
Best thing you've ever uploaded bud hell yeah
This was actually really dope, didn’t expect it
The chicken wire roof is stock they just took the leather off. Either that or it rotted off and didn't replace it.
this was an awesome change of scene. Amazing video nori
bruhhh your southern accent is on point lol
So cool to see old cars actually being used
great video alexi not gonna find this content anywhere else on youtube
Very, very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Oh my.. This looks like a dream to experience :D
I have this disease of liking any car that has Japanese plates on them
Amazing how those old Fords are just trashed in the dust there !!!
Love the "Simplistic" functionality of these vehicles and/or this club...
You should take a "road trip" to Cuba...just say'n...👊
unexpected but very appreciated content
For real this is so quality
TURN RIGHT TO GO LEFT
Hahaha that looks like doc!
so much dust i had to put a mask on even tho I'm watching from my PC lmao. love it!!
3:41 Funny, that's the exact kind of music that comes to mind when I think of american cars.
Nailed the background music. Nice vídeo.
Startgirl jump is soo cute :D
And all this stuff are awesome..:)
Japan does cars like nothing else. They have more fun with and dedicate everything for the perfect car. Alexi sharing these “weird car niche” videos from japan inspires me to make more car content here in Japan to share with the world.
glad to see some people still drive these things the way should be driven
Now this is a video that I can get behind! I'm not really into the whole Japanese car scene, that you usually show, but I like watching your videos because they're well made. Plus I'm a fan of expat Aussies that like to do their thing in their overseas country of choice. I'm also an expat Aussie, living in Canada, and following the hot rodding scene as much as I can around the local American states. Keep up the good work mate! Great video.
It's cool to see that Japanese folks are also appreciating American car culture too!
I love those hot rods. Always head turners. Plus the simplicity of them. Some would call some of them "rat rods".
I clicked on this without realising it was noriyaro and got the surprise of my life
Such a great variety of car culture. So cool
This looks pretty fun. Not fast or anything but they seem to be having a blast skidding around on dirt
Looks pretty fast for those cars. It probably feels super fast with their simple and “raw” interior
This is absolutely incredible