It’s hard to deny that the ASI W66GTS is anything but a head turning car. (In case you were wondering, ASI stands for Accuracy, Spirit and Imagination.)
Featuring the company’s dry carbon fiber hood, trunk and wing, the gold Bentley’s strikingly flowered paint scheme is hand painted onto the car by none other than Japan’s very own Nakamura Tetsuei.
If you’re worried that the exterior was the only part of this car to go under the knife though, then fear not, as the twin-turbo W12 was also the beneficiary of a hefty power jump to the tune of up to 800 horsepower.
It’s definitely not a car for everybody, but in a land filled with Ferraris and Lamborghinis, young oil tycoons are having to try harder and harder each day to stand out at the Dubai drive through.
On Saturday, I had the chance to go and see Formula D’s “The Finals” at Irwindale Speedway (yes, I did get stuck on Interstate 5 on the way down from San Francisco due to that massive accident), and I must say, if you’re at all a fan of the four wheeled machine, make sure you check out one of Formula Drift’s events at a track near you.
If you’re not familiar with the sport, think of drifting as two automotive ballerinas battling it out in a boxing match. It’s gracefully controlled mayhem, and in my opinion, it’s easily the best form of four-wheeled entertainment on the planet. Continue reading ‘…It’s Tuner Tuesday: Formula Drift?’
Thankfully, there are musicians out doing their best to revive it, and the prognosis is positive.
First, there’s the 2007 Air Guitar World Championships, which reigning champ Ochi Dainoji Yosuke of Japan continued to dominate, repeating his success from last year with another champion level performance:
Then, there’s Air Guitar Nation, a documentary about the birth of the National Air Guitar Championships, and the unique musicians that dare to master the air, such as David “C. Diddy” Jung and Dan “Bjorn Turoque”:
Makoto Nagano is a man among men. The 33 year old commercial fisherman is the only person to finish the obstacle course based Japanese TV show called Ninja Warrior since 1999. He wasn’t just competing against regular old Joes though. Contestants have included firefighters, martial artists, professional wrestlers, and even American Olympians such as Paul Terek, Morgan Hamm and Paul Hamm. Think you could do it? Just watch.
Thankfully The Simpsons and Futurama are as they are, but what if they had been Japanese creations? DeviantART user *spacecoyote created these great Anime-ized versions, though I still do prefer the original.
Though if forced, I’d take a Ferrari Enzo, what I really want for Christmas is a Bugatti Veyron:
If anyone has an extra that they wouldn’t mind letting me have, I’d be eternally grateful, and I’d even wash yours for you whenever you wanted, even if it looks like this:
Bathing Ape, apparently famous in the Japanese streetware scene, found it fit to cover their Bugatti in a not so camouflaged Pepto Pink, complete with Bathing Ape print camo. This wasn’t their first attempt at destroying what remains of the subtlety of a supercar though, as shown by their camo’ed Rolls Royce Phantom:
Ten bucks says Paul Dalton wouldn’t touch either of these with a sponge on a ten-foot stick.
There’s something very organic about watching a piece of art during its creation. This evolving painting, done by Japanese street artists, was completed over the course of a week, during which it went through many incarnations and style changes. Watch as each life of the painting grows, refines, and subsequently dies only to make way for a new painting with a new identity. It’s a very cool thing indeed.
For the kid who has everything, and is sure to get everything via some sort of trust fund/being the prince of a large country, the Golden Rocking Horse could be just the birthday present you’ve been looking for. Featuring 30-kilograms (80 pounds) of 24-karat gold, the carved horse was designed by Japanese jewelry designer Ginza Tanaka as a tribute to the birth of Prince Hisahito, in line to become Japan’s emperor. At a price of 150 million yen (1.28 million dollars), it’s not your everyday children’s toy, but can you really put a price on a child’s happiness? (Yes, yes you can, and it’s much less than 1.28 million, but that’s just my opinion)
