Crowning Glory And
Powerful Engine
A fusion of vip style and air-ride have created this
stunning jdm ride.
Imamura-san,
the man behind Bee Dragon, is currently seen as an innovator in VIP circles. He
continues to have the deepest respect for the original way of doing things, but
has injected a certain flair into the cars that he builds which has won him
international recognition. The whole VIP movement is a style that has been around
for decades, but one that’s probably gone through the most evident evolution of
any other car scene around. VIP has branched off in so many different schools
of thought, so many in fact that it’s hard to differentiate any more. What
Taketomi-san at Junction Produce began all those years ago is still very much a
popular style, where things are kept simple with a black exterior riding low on
big silver rims. That look is still very widespread, but even Junction Produce
have begun to evolve and experiment, now even moving onto import cars like the
Rolls Royce Phantom, the Mercedes Benz S-class and even the Porsche Panamera.
As Imamura says, “No matter what you do with your sedan, the end result should
always be a menacing looking ride, one that attracts attention and even shocks
for its extreme looks and sound.” So you can kind of understand where the whole
onikyan, or demon-camber thing has come from.
Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe review
Initially
it was a simple, and at times unwanted, effect of slamming a car to the ground,
until someone said, ‘what if we make it even more evident?’ This particular
style has split away in its own direction with people taking it to the very
limit of practicality, some managing to get up to -30-degrees at the rear
wheels. Then there are those that, on top of the defining factors of VIP-specific
mods, go wild on interior and exterior customisation, a somewhat show-oriented
movement that has really grown in popularity over the years. And it’s precisely
all of this fused together that proved to be his latest challenge. We say
‘challenge’ because when confronted with a request from one of his best
customers, he had to do something that he never thought he could actually do. VIP
and air suspension just don’t mix. The whole thing about running low is making
a statement, showing the world that you have forsaken comfort and practicality
for the benefit of looks and presence. But like every other aspect of bippu
style, air has been slowly but surely making its way onto Japanese shores, bringing
with it what has to be one of the biggest upsets since the style was born. For
Imamura especially, running no bags – just plain low – has defined his style as
much as the huge blistered fenders he creates, and the massive amount of
negative camber he dials into his suspension. But then he started thinking. If
taking risks has gotten him this far, why would he stop now? He decided to
accept the challenge and the resulting JZS181 Crown Athlete is probably one of
the most defining cars he has ever created, a perfect modern-day interpretation
of VIP style.
Toyota JZS181 Crown Athlete
All
boxes have truly been checked, starting off with the big Crown’s stance. Here
is where Imamura really worked his magic, hand sculpting the pumped and
blistered fender flares that are seamlessly integrated into bodywork as if they
came that way directly from Toyota. It’s all about attention to detail, the
widening having been faded out into the rear doors as well as the bumpers
themselves. For the first time, he had to work around the air suspension that
his customer had already fitted to the car, carefully thinking about wheel
sizes, offset, and camber to get the look just right. What made this harder was
deciding on the suspension’s geometry as it varies all the time depending on
the height the car is set at, an issue he’d not had to deal with before. But
with most of the importance being placed on how the car would look slammed on
its frame; going for maximum aggression wasn’t too difficult. The 18-inch Work
Equips well and truly make the car, the 11J front with 0 offset and the -15 12J
rear, along with the obligatory stretched tyres allow the outer rim to
literally sit on the fenders once the bags are dropped to their lowest
setting. All of the bodywork is custom made, from the imposing front bumper
with the louvred air dams with recessed fog lights sunk deep inside, to the
rear bumper treatment with integrated diffuser-like section from which the
one-off squared off titanium exhaust tips protrude from. The glossy black paint
is a touch of authenticity, a call back to the VIP cars of the nineties, which
came in every colour you wanted, as long as it was black.
The 18-inch Work Equips well and truly
make the car, the 11J front with 0 offset and the -15 12J rear
If
the exterior suffers for a little lack of colour, the same definitely cannot be
said for the interior. Swing open any of the four doors and images of the
elevator scene in The Shining will come flooding into your brain as pretty much
every single surface you see has been either upholstered or dyed in
retina-burning red. No cost was spared in guaranteeing the highest quality
finish, from the ribbed patterns on the seats to the quilted headliner,
A-pillars, door cards and transmission tunnel. The dash sports a suede covering
and all surrounding plastics have been specially died to match. Even the seat
belts are red! One detail we couldn’t help but be impressed by is the official
Toyota passenger-side mounted rubbish bin, which used to be offered as a dealer
option when the car was new. Of course, that too has been painstakingly covered
in matching suede. A Carrozzeria based AV system keeps the tunes pumping
through the Kicker speakers and the centrally mounted subwoofer in the parcel
shelf, to give a nice kick to the lower frequencies. These cars aren’t about
performance, they’re about driving around slow on the road and looking damn
good while doing so! That’s why the only thing spicing things up on the engine
side of things is the one-off exhaust to give the Athlete’s V6 the deep growl
every VIP car should be able to generate. It completes an outstanding package,
a fusion of old school VIP style with a more open- minded approach – we love
it!
