Thursday, January 25th, 2001
I spend most of the day today reading, writing, and sleeping. Eventually I go back to Ikebukuro to look around some more. Lots of nondescript shops, restaurants, videogame parlors, etc. I go back to the Toyota Amlux showroom too. They haven't changed the movie yet, but they did change the cars! The silver MR2 is now green with a tan interior, the silver Celica has been replaced with yellow, and the silver Altezza RS200 has been replaced with a white AS200. 2.0-liter straight-six (1G-GE) with a six-speed manual and slightly different interior, still really sharp looking. I am surprised to see that the Japanese Domestic Market Celica is 192hp instead of 180hp!

Toyota Amlux, Ikebukuro. Foreground: Altezza. Background: Celica GT-S
Damn, that's a good looking car! I think white is my favorite color for the Altezza, and I love the blacked-out grille of the AS200.

Too bad you can't see the character line that runs down the side of the car better. Remember also that this is THE car that originated this look for the taillights.

My favorite area of the car has the be the front fender. Look for more front fender shots later...:-).

See even more pics of this car (and others) in my Japanese car gallery

I pestered the girls who work there some more. One I didn't talk to actually started a conversation with me! We talk for while and She wanted to take a picture of me in the car. I oblige even though I already have about a zillion pictures of the car. She told me that I could speak in English, but I explained that I wanted to practice my Japanese. She asks me where I am from, and after a while I tell her about how much I love the car. I explain that we don't get this version in the U.S., and she replies, "So ne...Lexus arimasu ne?" I didn't have the Japanese to explain. She asks what my car is and when I tell her it is a Corolla Trueno she gets very excited. She tells me my Japanese is good, but I think it is just politeness. I do some shopping in the TRD store, and I am very restrained, thank you. I watch the motorsports video again, and think about how impressive the 1999 season was. It was the first year Toyota became truly competitive in Indycars, the Formula 3 series champion was driving a Tom's Toyota, and the Toyota Corolla won the World Rally Championship. Toyota won the Japanese GT Championship, easily the biggest motorsports deal in Japan. They used a Tom's-built Supra with a 3S-G (turboed Altezza) drivetrain in GT500 to beat out Acura NSX, Porshche 911 turbo, and AWD turbo Nissan Skyline GT-R. In the lesser GT300 division, the FWD Celica (old body style-ST212?) was competitive with the Integra Type-R and Mitsubishi FTO. The Tom's Carina (or was it a Corona Exiv?) was competitive in Japanese Touring Car. And Le Mans...Toyota swept the front row in qualifying, and then lead Mercedes and BMW for 23 hours...when the car broke. They patched it back together for a second-place finish, with the second car also top-five! Just makes your heart swell with Toyota pride, doesn't it? :-)



January 26th, 2001