The Most Infamous Porsche 911 Ever Made
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- Опубликовано: 23 апр 2022
- This is the story of a man and his Porsche 911 turbo. Together they built a legacy through illegal activity which has forever changed car culture around the world.
I'd heard rumors about Yoshida and his infamous Porsche 930 for years, so I really enjoyed diving into the topic and trying to parse out the truth - which was trickier than expected! While this tale may not be as crazy as some would have you believe, it offers some interesting insight into the early days of street racing in Japan, Yatabe, Mid Night, the Wangan, and more. I hope you enjoy it!
Some of the best references I found:
Link to original MPW website - web.archive.org/web/200105061...
TONS of incredible info, especially on Yatabe - / autoteamretro
Dino’s article - www.speedhunters.com/2015/10/f...
Great work and well-written, various articles on the topic - ateliereaurouge.com/blackbird...
Music
Panda Coast - Dusk
HOME - Chicken Soup
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Chris Doerksen - Night Running
HOME - Byzantium
Colour Index - Intervals (Open Spectrum)
Patricia Taxxon - Retrograde
Patricia Taxxon - Wavetable 
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The RUF Yellow bird was more infamous outside of Japan, it was widely seen as the fastest car in the world until the Mclaren F1 hit the scene.
There were more than one of those, this is the #1 most famous single 911
Nope jaguar 220
@@ukg5508 1mph slower than the ruf yellowbird
not technically a 911
@@hpoz222 yes and all the millions of other nit picking arguments, the Jag had a higher top speed but would get waxed by the RUF on the green hell.
What you have to understand is, although the two porches are configured differently, they are still basically volkswagen beetles🤣
I still cannot believe that he actually got Porsche themselves to build him the biggest beast of a 911 which would be used for all manner of illegal racing activities... Man those were the times
When you have money, you can start buying anything you can afford.
I personally doubt a lot of this happened.
@@dave7244 some legends are fiction.
That’s fine.
I think he built most of it by himself and then sent it to Germany for the parts and the tuning towards the end of it.
It's hilarious how street racers, technically criminals that the police can't catch, were on the covers of magazines and ordering custom built cars from Porshe which would be used specifically to race on public roads. Truly the wild west of car culture.
You can do that in US today, but have to ensure you never get stopped by police, and technically cannot publicize anything that is done outside of racetrack or not outside of US - doing so can result in lawsuits, arrests and of course impoundment of the “car”
@@MidnightBenz”fan fiction” stories are the way around that, show no video but literature documentation
@@DontAttme I usually get people to say that they don't believe me when there is no video SMH
@@MidnightBenz yeah that’s the trade off. You can either convince the audience & have no excuse for law enforcement or give yourself a chance to get around law enforcement at the expense of being called a liar. Unfortunate really.
@@DontAttme unfortunately that is true... but there is also a grey area - record and post after the statue of limitations expire... but then again that has it's problems.
This video is incredibly fascinating. This might be the best breakdown of the history of the mid night team I have seen in English since the drivetribe video. These Porsches are awesome!
I think it's remarkable that the origins were in American muscle cars. I haven't found much information on muscle cars in japan and to see the old media is really cool.
Truly an awesome video. I'm sharing it around.
yeah that was pretty cool to see, they had some cool ones to boot like that black Pantera, imagine being that guy cruising japan in the 80's haha
Thanks Jay! I want to make another video focusing on one of those American muscle cars in Japan, but finding footage to pair it with is proving to be a challenge. I'm hoping to figure it out as it's a wild story!
kometani > takumi any day of the fucking week
I really think a perfect follow-up to this would be the other infamous 911, but from the other side of the globe - ‘The King of Mulholland’, Chris Banning’s acid dipped, chopped roof RSR race car for the streets of Mulholland Drive in the 1970s
The drivetribe video is full of shit, dont believe half the stuff there
the amount of research that went into this mustve been mental, love this vid and good job :D
Much of this info is probably from Automode that did a lot translations from Japanese magazines?
@@seanm.collins9888 moon listed his sources in the desc.
he should expand his research to the fields of pronounciation. porsche is porschE, not porsch.
@@pharkasj porscha femenin of porsche but it correct this way in german language(porschut, with silent T), sorry for my bad explanaition mr.pharkasj
@@hz-wn9hd some not all. And also, lmao yeah super research like "700 somthin hp". It's missing real details and is just a regurgitation of others research.
This video isn't specifically about Mid Night, but damn did you drop some ultra-rare gems in here. Good shit, man.
I came to this vid knowing it was about the Midnight club 911, only to finally get some concrete info on the 1970-1973 Trans Am that I kept seeing on old JDM high speed pics and future funk posters! I've been researching that car for a couple years! Thanks for finally answering some questions I had about that T/A.
Thanks! "Auto Team Retro" has some great articles which go into more detail on that car - facebook.com/autoteamretro/posts/yatabe-in-god-we-trustso-if-youve-followed-this-page-for-long-enough-youll-know-/151211922262895/
I’d think some of those parts for that Trans Am came through Dr Robert’s Racing. He was a stable in American iron in Japan. He raced a Jet car at Fuji.I’m not sure if he still living. That was a quite a few years ago. Some of the older Japanese members in TSCC May know more. They hung in some good circles.
@@HuntersMoon thanks for the link! and this was an awesome vid. I love how you went deep into the history and some of the major players and circumstances behind the mid Midnight Club and 70-80s Japanese street racing scene. One of the better videos on the subject.
I've been seeing that Trans Am on future funk videos too. I'm now looking for more info on the C3 Corvette with the "West" window sticker🤔
@@HuntersMoon do you have any more good websites where you collected your information from? i always loved to read about the yatabe speed trial days on old facebook groups
If you like the Mid Night Club or Japanese Street Racing in general maybe dwell on the story of Garry Mitsunaga and his DeTomaso Pantera, the first car to reach 300km/h in Yatabe also tuned by Masaru Hosoki of ABR or even the rare Walter Wolf Countachs owned by some members of the club. Thank you for actually shedding some light and truth to a subject that very often is vicitim of disinfo. Samstag Abend
The real Devil Z!
Hosoki was never the owner of the Red Z. He was the tuner for some time but that car belonged to Yamada-san and now Iwaya-san.
Also the team member that owns the 1 of 3 Walter Wolf countach owns another countach which recently crashed at track and was rebuilt. He originally saw the WW Countach when he was very young and fell in love with the car, he later made it his goal to own it.
The very image of a DeTomaso Pantera roaring down Japanese highways is amazing.
The devil z aka 130s ABR is lost to only nothing but pictures and rumors, I’ve tried researching about it and only tracked it back to a datsun shop in Japan with them having few pictures of it in there shop after the many years but then it disappeared without a trace, it’s like the car never existed, as it was just a ghost caught on camera
"Here is your 500 hp Porsche 911 Tubo back, the engine blew"
Porsche *sends it back at 600 hp*.
As an automotive journalist, I have a lot of respect for how honest an accurate all of this information is
Never before heard about the white 911 "Traction Master", the story about getting banged up because of the guard rails is just so awesome!!
Yeh, kind of made me ashamed of my burning desire to own a Porsche by Singer to use only occasionally on nice sunny days.
After seeking centuries for the perfect Mid Night 930 Story, I’ve finally found the perfect vid. I also found way more stuff than what I expected to find. Subbed.
Thanks Giovino! I appreciate the kinds words and your sub!
My thoughts exactly.
As infamous as that car is, I hope NOTHING ever happens to that 930, it's a piece of history!
its going somewhere later
@@hybridAbsol hope not, the things it's been through? That's what makes it what it is. Shouldn't be taken anywhere else
@@HaruTheFenrir too bad, the government doesnt care on these sort of things
@@hybridAbsol I never said it did?
@@HaruTheFenrir dont want to sound mean but i dont think those exotics are going to a better place after VOLVO tooked over
They'll probably go to auction in bad conditions since nobody is going to look out for them
okawa's trans am was indeed fast, but don't leave out a car around the same time which was the first to reach 300kph- Gary Alan Mitsunaga's pantera, driven by kunimitsu takahashi at yatabe in 1981, it reached an astounding 307kph.
there was a faster pantera than that, it was just recently bought by the guy who runs the channel coffee club, his videos are about finding and buying iconic cars
@@King_Flippy_Nips what channel? Coffee club isn’t it
@@aviazx1799 I need to know the channel too
That car will make an appearance in the next video! I originally had it in this one but decided to save it for a video where I could spend more time on it. Should be out in a couple weeks!
Was Okawa's Trans AM set up with an LS6?
Dude, as with any midnight video I was skeptical at first especially because it’s such a widely covered yet poorly documented subjects within the car community. However the end of your video was pure gold, I have yet to see such a realist, accurate take on the demise/transformation of the club, and the state it’s in today. Excellent work.
Looks like the algorithm has blessed this video. It's always a pleasure to see some well researched content about vintage street racing that isn't dramatized.
The old footage is an absolute treat to watch, great video!
And your 911 is an absolute beaut!
Sweet video! What I love most about the whole Mid Night story is I'll most likely never know the whole thing and what I imagine happened is probably a whole lot more interesting that the real story. So I'm fine with mistakes, misinformation and never actually knowing on a topic like this. It would be near impossible to have %100 factual info anyway and it would erase all the stuff we've filled in the blanks with.
if ever there was a video where the vibes, time, aesthetic, culture and subject made me want to live inside it, this is it. It's the same feeling I get watching Akira. much love for making this video.
You put so much heart and passion into this video, that was probably the best 20 minutes of my life lately.
Thanks, I really appreciate it!
Definitely among the best car history videos I've seen in a few years...
Funny how exactly zero Porschephiles ever talk about drifting, which is pretty much all the 911 does in every corner! Seeing the Yellowbird lay down a vicious single tire burnout was glorious
2022 gt3 rs would like to have a word with you
because 99.9% of 911s dont do that
I once did a research about this topic in 2014, and didn't get a complete story as you did. And I also remember the article Dino wrote on Speedhunters when it was released. Awesome video my man!
Thanks Dion! Awesome E30 too, I had one as my first car (not as nice as yours though) and really loved it!
@@HuntersMoon thank you brother!
@@dion_aldi your first name unscrambled spells Dino.
The Summoning Salt of underground car culture!!! Awesome video. I'd be interested to see your take on the history of the Kanjozoku and how the various teams were formed. Look forward to more of this.
Thanks Morgan! That's a great idea, I've been thinking about how to do a kanjo video for a while, but struggling to find a good way - one day though!
@@HuntersMoon buy a small hatch and never lift
Subscribed for the effort. It’s extremely rare that I watch something on this era of cars and feel like I’ve been educated. This is a fantastic video. Look forwards to sitting down regularly with a coffee and watching more of your content.
This is by FAR the most educational and in depth video iv'e watched about anything car culture related in Japan. Thank you so much and keep up the great work
Really enjoyed this, and appreciate the work you put into bringing it all together.
I really enjoyed this thank you very much! I know how much work goes into something of this quality and it deserves far more attention
Thanks Oliver!
Thanks for a really cool video dude. Lots of hard work has been done to make it happen. An old car freak can truly appreciate this kind of stuff.
Awesome video man, I see a lot of passion put into it. You deserve way more viewers and subs!
I am here because in mid '90s, as a kid, I had a large poster above my bed with a picture of slightly modded 911 looking similar to his but also a bit like yours (this one at the end) and at the top of the poster was writing 'Mid Night Porsche'. Since then I always wondered why the poster said "mid night" instead of just midnight. Now I know. What a great story! Thanks a lot! ♥
Thanks Bart! That's a great story, I'm glad that won't haunt you any more!
Thats a great story and a final connection 🤙🤙
Crazy cool prob early stage of the porche?
This YT channel is in league of its own.Information and effort put in this video is immense.I'm stunned and subscribed!
P.S. I think that every serious car enthusiast and car culture fan would be happy to see a special video dedicated to Japan's car culture and Japanese underground car/racing clubs.And it would be even better to make a video dedicated completely to Mid Night club.
Great story. I’ve become a huge Porsche fan in the last 10 years and the more I learn about these cars and the amazing stories they create just blows my mind. Thank you for sharing this knowledge. I’m now going to dive into Wangan Midnight. I had heard of it before, but now I can’t wait to see where that rabbit hole takes me!
Been a huge fan of the Mid Night Racing Team since the early 2000s as a young kid. You've got it right man! You and the team that assembled these facts together did a phenomenal job. This street racing team, as well as the other JDM ones, truly changed the tuner culture forever. And it forever influenced us, the next generation, on how we'd like our street cars. I remember always wishing to be born earlier, so I could live out the 80s-90s street racing culture in Japan haha. Now I seek to create my own legal version of what these members pushed for back then. Thank you again for this man. 10/10
"Dad, why is our sister's name Rose?"
"Because your mother loves roses"
"Thanks Dad"
"No problem, Turbo and Carrera"
As a lifelong Porschephile introduced to these cars as a kid thru my pops. Attending PCA here in the Southeast of the US helping with his 914 racecar still today they are unique cars with incredible personality and history. This was super interesting, Great video!!
What I know was, Midnight did cease due to a freak accident and during its course, none of them had ever endangered anyone's life till that fateful day.
Midnight had a strict policy that every driver must be skillful in their craft and masters of their own machine and in no way were they allowed to endanger themselves or any civilians that's using the same highways as them and if they felt danger, they should bail. However, that wasn't the case that caused the team to call it quits.
So iirc, it was 1996 or 1997 where a pair of Midnight Club members were doing some high speed cruising where they met another pair of Bosozoku members. The Bosozokus had been taunting other Midnight Club members over the months and had been creating chaos between the club's races and even often disturbing the members during their meetings so the 2 Midnight Club members that were cruising decided to take up the gauntlet and chased after the Bosozoku.
However, it wasn't sanctioned by any of the club's higher ups and the conditions were rather sketchy that day and indeed, it was horrid. The Bosozoku led the pair of Midnight Club members into a high traffic area, lost control and created a massive traffic accident and got everyone involved. In the chaos, the 2 Bosozokus were killed and a total of 8 people got injured, 6 being uninvolved civilians and 2 being the other club members that were battling the Bosozokus.
Because of this, the club instantly disbanded but of course, there's still some outliers around which, I know, still exist till this day that still runs the Shutoku with their high horsepower machines.
There was no crash, and they never went away
Source: Andy Carey
@LONE WULF IN THE CUT midnight historian
@LONE WULF IN THE CUT The only reliable source of mid night on the internet, he has been personal friends of the team for many years.
@@DEADprlpG935 Could you link some of his stuff, videos, articles, onlyfans....anything, interested fella wanting all the info he can get
@@Fallengemi he has a RUclips channel and even made a video with the current president of the club. The best thing you can do though is following them on Instagram
This has got to be my favorite topic of all motoring history, so many branching paths and information. It makes experiences Ive had in games like tokyo xtreme racer 3 feel even more real and impactful on me
Did anyone else hear him say ls6. No bro that most likely had a 455 in it. The ls1 didn’t even come out until 1997 way after the midnight club was running in the 80s
i heard the same thing and was very confused, either basically no one who saw the video is saying anything or hes deleting comments about it which might be the case
Nah he's probably correct. There is the 454 Big Block LS-6 that was around in the 70s at the same time as the 455. It came in the Chevelle SS. Chevrolet has used the LS derivative name multiple times before the 90s in production codes.
Awesome video. Informative, entertaining and well paced. Keep up the good work.
Its getting rarer and rarer to find such an informative video, especially on a topic I'm already very familiar with. Thumbs up, awesome video man!
So interesting learning about a culture i've always so heavily romanticised. Such a great video man, you've earned a sub
Low-key never felt like crying for a car so beautiful in a time so pure. They should’ve put it in a museum
Sadly, a museum for Wangan streetracing would unlikely happen in Japan. As noted in the video, the Japanese weren't all too happy about the racing clubs endangering civilians while they're pursuing their passion.
Maybe Yoshida should have just sold the car to Porsche. I would say they will respect a piece of car racing history they themselves built. More so than the Japanese would.
Thank you for this incredibly detailed documentary! Absolutely fascinating history.
What an absolutely brilliant video, I've never seen someone tell this story as clearly as you have and I've been looking for a long time. subscribed
I've only just come across your channel, but have really enjoyed it thus far. Keep it coming!
this video was very well done ! It's sad to hear what happened to Yoshida and his 911. But i am happy to hear that Mid Night is still around and racing responsibly now.
Amazing video! Must’ve been so hard to get all the research and info!
This was an incredible documentary and put together very well. Your low subscriber count surprised me very much and I am sure if you continue with content on the level you will grow very fast. This video currently has around 375k views and it deserves so much more and especially for any Porsche fan it is a must watch. This type of stuff is what drives my passion for collecting Porsches even at the determent of my fiance giving me a dirty look every time I purchase one, some rare part, or sleep in the garage lol. The cars were here before her though haha.
Most of this I knew, some of this I had no clue & loved learning about it.
Thank you! Never stop making videos like this, should do everything. All the racing clubs, the stories on many different cars. Rally, Le mans & more.
1:08 Dang that corvette though
Man, seeing those photos of all of those amazing builds… They’re just so cool and have a unique aesthetic. Especially when combined with the visuals of the old cameras and film it’s even better.
Best video on mid night I've seen. Amazing work pulling this together
Awesome story.Kind of content i subscribed for in the first place along with effort you put into making this.Great job,man.
What a deep dive, best coverage on the cars history I have found yet, thank you! Interestingly years ago I myself also picked up, not a 930, but an 84' M491 (platinum metallic) that turned out to have a 3.3 turbo motor out of an 88/89'. considerable mods including the turbo, intercooler, exhaust etc. Still uses the CIS and the 915 trans, which I've been looking around for a decently priced 4-speed to swap in completing the homologation. The driving experience is never unremarkable to say the least!
Thanks Scott, great advice. I've delayed going again until I can squeeze in with a helmet, unfortunately at 6'6 it's been a struggle - definitely worth it though!
This video really unveils a significant part of car culture and history to many people. Couldn’t be happier when I find this video.
an amazing piece of work man!
i always knew of Mid Night but truly had no idea how far this story went. super cool watch!
That was an amazing video to watch. Amazing job, must've been a ton of research to do. And the narration... Top notch. Kept me focused all the way through. Earned a sub!
This is the most comprehensive, best video that I have seen about this car / the club. And the love is evident.
Thanks Jonathan! I really appreciate it
This is incredible. Thank you for your hard work!
First time I’ve ever watched one of your videos, The research you do and the passion you have for explaining the back story to anything and everything about cars is breathtaking, Well done sir
Thanks Max, I appreciate it!
Great narration, research and overall quality. Love this video and can't wait for more.
Instant sub and big things coming for this channel!
awesome video! as a Porsche enthusiast, it's cool to know the History of one of the most famous Porsches ever built!
You should make a video update of what happened to this 911 now and where it is now. Also curious about how Yoshida’s background and how he made his wealth initially in order to afford a Porsche in Japan in the 70’s. I’d be very interested in these facts.
Yes that would be a great idea. I’m wondering the same thing about the Porsche and how he afforded the mods.
After growing up in this period, being a teenager in the 90's- I really enjoyed this vid. What an epic saga, thank you for spending all that time researching the topic and thanks even more for sharing! Will have a look at a couple of other vids of yours now, cheers from Down Under 👍
Please do more video's like this! It was a pleasure watching you tell this story and i'd love to hear more about another car in the same style as this video!
Deserves way more views, infatuating and well put together video, keep going!
Thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed it
These custom Porsches are the ultimate cars to own. There's more stories like this one. There is some crazy Porsches out there that not many people know about.
There's people who's entire life is dictated by their love of Porsches. They went to medical school, became engineers, just so they could one day own a Porsche. It's really incredible.
Amazing story and work from your part,i really enjoyed it.These kind of stories are awesome
awesome video, great presentation. and far more information than I have seen anywhere else
11:30 little correction: the "wing" is more sort of a spoiler. it physically can't provide downforce, but only reduce lift at the cost of added drag. the lifting of the spoiler and increasing of the angle was done to increase airflow to the larger intercooler, because the intercooler is located inside the spoiler. you can see the grill on top of it, which allows air to pass inside and through the intercooler and through the engine compartment.
This was awesome. Ever since buying my 930 I was curious of this aspect of 930 history in Japan. I think there was one in InitialD as well.
Not initial D, no manufacturer from another region appeared in it, only a mercedes did. You might be confusing it with wangan midnight that had a black 930 as one of the main rivals and is notoriously popular like the s30 Z that appeared in it.
@@Turbo.RF4 Ahhh, didnt know, thank you.
@@westschleife no prob lad👍
Bro this documentary is amazing. One of the best documentaries on RUclips. And I mean that. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Glad I've stumbled onto your channel. Quality content all around.
Excellent video, easily the most comprehensive coverage of Mid Night I've seen on RUclips.
Brother this was quite a detailed video and I thank you for posting it... really informative..
Thanks Udaybir! I appreciate the comment
Great video. Really enjoyed this. Keep up the great content!
You really struck a chord with us car enthusiasts with your videos hope to see more of your awesome videos about car culture keep it up man !!!!!
Thank you for making such a great doc on the car and the team/club. I love the culture of the 80-90s era Wangan racing but their is a lot of miss information about it here on YT and I’m glad to come across such a great doc. Would love to see you cover the infamous S30 the raced with Team Mid Night.
Thanks for the kind words! You pretty much called the video I just released haha
Awesome documentary! I love how japanese car culture history always feels like an exciting story out of GTO, what a plot!
A video on the kanjo racing scene and history would be great! Absolutely love your videos bro!!
Thank you for the taking the time to research and make this awesome video, really enjoyed it!! The background music was spot on btw :P
A Porsche 911 turbo Carrera came into a custom shop I ran in Leeds years ago. He wanted me to build him an exhaust for it and left it with me to look over. I took a good look at it and decided not to attempt it as it was too risky taking the back off for the money.
However, I couln't resist taking it for a quick spin, I went down a short, deserted straight across the industrial estate, put my foot down and a few seconds later was about to flip it into 3rd before noticing I was doing 70mph - in 2nd gear.
I decided to leave it there, 1st and 2nd was enough, some of the most exhilerating... 6 or 7 seconds of my life. Mad car, mad, mad car.
It really truly broke my heart hearing the end of the legacy, seeing photos of that car sat in a dealership to collect dust tore me up, I knew her as the "blackbird" when I first learned of the monstrous 911 turbo of wangan, I tried my best to learn about it only to find this vid, I'm grateful to know what happened, but sad that a legacy like this ended the way it did
Fantastic video! Thanks for putting together a story on a very interesting time in Motorsport history. 👍🏻
Not only a lot of research was done but it's also well presented. Great job. Subscribed.
Ever since i discovered the Mid Night club i’ve been fascinated by it. I always dream of how my might have been back in the 80-90s when street racing was so popular and so many people came together to do it. It’s sad to see how the club fell and eventually broke apart but it’s insane how the different gangs and stuff back then worked and interacted.
Mid night is still around but they don’t street race anymore there was a speed hunters article on a car show at Yokohama that had some mid night members and there was a article on a 993 on speed hunter that’s apart of mid night also there’s a video of a guy who interviewed the current chairman of midnight
I am a former California Street Racer, we road raced sportbikes in our local canyons. Cars would race there also. Bygone era. Now I do a little vintage racing at the track but it’s rare that I get out. Love all this old history.
Festival of speed..?...what's that old diesel racer early 1900s thing weighs quite a bit top speed 120 mph but that's it straight away and turns..straight everyone laps him turns they get out his way
thanks for this video, i always love listening about the club mid night. car culture has been part of my life since i can remember. Keep on keeping on man!
Great content, great channel. Keep making videos in this format.
Bro these clips and photos are insane, they made me nostalgic about that era
I was so happy whenever I found one, few and far between but they just have such a cool feeling
@@HuntersMoon absolutely you nailed it! The most cool clip was about the japanese highway with skyscrapers
I have a 911 3.2 from Japan, it has a upgraded performance engine, and other mods done to it.
Interesting to watch your video, and learn more about mid night club.
That's awesome, looks super clean too!
This was fascinating!!! I love all of the in period photos and video you included. Brilliant.
We were never told where the 930 finally ended up after being sold in 2015 tho.
Awesome content. Extremely interesting. Thanks for the upload dude.
This is so awesome, and the fact that Porsche was like sure and modified his street car… man that is just so awesome, just incredible 😎
My guessing is that most of the members were high income earners cause those mods dont sound so cheap
My first thoughts too. Where did they get the money? Wonder if it was all legitimate sources or if there was also some illegal income and money laundering going on.
@@ianspeckmaier9565 members of Midnight club are business owners.
@@ianspeckmaier9565japan economy at the time was 2nd biggest they were fucking rich.
This is full stop one of the best videos ive ever watched, makes me wonder what Yoshida is up to today, hope the legend is doing alright. Thanks for making this.
Wow! Thank you so much. I learned a lot from this & I thought this video was so well-put, together & enjoyable to watch. Thank you, again
This was awesome! I learned a lot, thank you.
Thanks, Jeff!
Street racing in the Bay Area used to be similar -- tuners and shops, owner-mechanic racers, and high-speed engineering. Big factors like the right mix Methanol+Acetone fuel and AWD combined with a million little details like the low-drag mirrors, taped body seams, perfect N2 tire pressure and temp, Lexan windows and ultra-light racing buckets. Thursday night in the Port of Oakland would have up to a couple dozen cars being worked on, final tunes for the weekend being dialed in pass by pass. Who needs a dyno when you're calculating the hp with a stopwatch and top speed. The ceiling of the lower deck of the Bay Bridge right after the tunnel still has a dent if you know what to look for where a friend got too airborne and totaled at some insane speed because of insufficient aero. He had what was left of the engine and drivetrain in a new chassis by the end of the week and was back pushing insane, sustained top speeds the week after.
...sadly, that scene was killed by 1000 cuts, or 5 things really: 1) increased felony prosecution (and mandatory car crushing); 2) the _Fast & Furious_ car-illiterate franchise; 3) the deluge of copy cat and wannabe sideshow inner-city culture and criminality it inspired; 4) increased traffic in the Bay Area leading to too much congestion for even midnight streetracing, and; 5) the internet, blessing and curse. That many of us are much older now and have families or that you can buy production cars with performance that to get 20 years ago cost years of labor and love... well, maybe that's part of it too.
I want to thank you for putting in the effort to make this video. It's been a story I've been fond of for a long time. It was true that the video game Midnight Club, and a group I was associated with called the Import Knightz that were the best in the online video game world, that really drove me to researching deeper and deeper into the story. Like you had eluded to, trying to find anything out of this elusive group was filled with skepticism and hyperbole, but I knew that what had inspired the "Demon" Z had indeed been made from history, not from fantasy. Then the algorithm led me here to what I feel is a completion of my quest. The lesson is indeed that the journey is sometimes more important than the story as I assist in multiple events in my own area, including the 22 Rally that supports veterans through charity by taking street bred supercars to the track. I was able to use my passion for one story to fuel my own story and even finding fame, or in some cases infamy, myself. It breaks my heart that Yoshida fell from grace, but a certain ease came over me to know that the Mid Night club took it to the track the same way we take these super cars to the track. Karma and parallel paths can be a beautiful thing. So to complete the story I hope to message Mid Night and see if they would come over here to attend one of our events and tie together, for me, a lifetime of history. It's been my honor to watch your video. Thank you again for sharing. I plan to share it out to whoever will listen.
Very nice story, editing, naration...well done.