VIP Cars, European Origins?

In the mid to late 80s I know cars from Japan were not excatly as feature filled or luxurious as european cars from BMW and Mercedes. I think Honda had the accord and toyota the camry. No lexus or Inifiniti brands yet. I think Acura MAY have been starting out. I do remember the legend but I think that was the 90s. No superstar or gangster or underlord/yakuza rode in a Accord in Japan most if not all had Benz's (black ones preferably) With wings, rims and AMG body kits. (some had black rims also) If any of you are old enough you may have remembered the movie BLACK RAIN with Michael Douglas & Andy Garcia, one of the main characters a Yakuza by the name of SATO drove such a all black with dark black tint car.

As well as the other Yakuza members. (there is an famous scene of all the black benz's following each other driving up to a old japanese farm with dust flying from thier rims.) Now since these cars from europe (benz, BMW) in the 80s and 90s where so much more expensive and "exclusive" compared to what Japan was putting out/had to offer do you think the VIP cars started then? With people with not enough cash to afford a benz decided that wanted the Yakuza/gangster style (wannabes) without the price of a benz and started modding thier glorias, and other 4 door sedans to emulate the Benzs the Yakuzas drove? I see lots of similairity in how they try to make the cars look almost like a Benz from the black rims to the kits and even lights and grill.

Even today you see some of that similairty between cars. They try to take a home grown car and make it look like the more expensive one. but now since Lexus and Infiniti has stepped up to the europeans they are on equal footing. To help with my theory here are a few excepts from MSN and Mainichi Daily news:"Yakuza dons have ditched their penchant for the pricey Mercedes Benz with pure gold badges that were once a symbol of organized crime in this country in favor of equally functional but considerably cheaper Japanese cars, according to Shukan Taishu (5/10-17)." "Past Yamaguchi-gumi oyabun have been known for their flash cars, like the Cadillac favored by Kazuo Taoka and the Mercedes Benz limousine used by Masahisa Takenaka.Posh cars have long been regarded as a yakuza status symbol and by far the most popular set of wheels among mobsters has been the Mercedes Benz, especially the S600 limousine models.

Yamaguchi-gumi gang bosses started displaying their liking for the German-made cars in the mid-'70s, taking over from the American-made vehicles that had been the rage until that time."Mercedes Benz has the reputation for being reliable and functional. They're the type of cars people expect doctors to drive, but yakuza moved with the changing times and started choosing them too, if more for safety reasons than because of the way they looked," the gang insider says.Mercedes remained the preferred choice of Japan's pinky-less for decades, despite being briefly usurped by the likes of Rolls Royce and Bentley during the heady days of the bubble economy. Even when the economy soured, the Mercedes myth continued in the underworld."

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2004/05/20040501p2g00m0dm999000c.html

Here is one from inside line:"Luckily, my first encounter with the lads was in a specially prepared interview session to inquire why they employ left-hand-drive Mercedes-Benz S-Class limos (usually black or white) in Japan's right-hand-drive car culture. Questions like that, a Japanese scribe wouldn't dare ask in a million years.

That's just not done. But interestingly, one Yakuza boss agreed because, as I read it, he was intrigued with the foreign media. As expected, the replies centered on Mercedes' strong build quality and high status levels.But in Japan, there's an unwritten law: When you see big black or white limos, normally Mercedes S-Class or Lexus LS models, pushing their way through the traffic, just let them pass.

"Mr. Average doesn't want to cross paths with who might be inside. I let them pass, too. I like life too much."

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=109688

VIP opinions

About the "VIP POPE" police:
Who the Founder is & who was one of the O.G VIP Guys.

**Standing in the middle of a convention hall outside of Philadelphia, Takahiro Taketomi looks a bit like Bogey. His eyes are stern and focused and ringed by the charcoal hue of lost sleep. His short black hair is neat and smoothed and shines. He doesn’t smile. In fact, he speaks with a grimace and like he is always about to light a cigarette.Taketomi is one of the self-proclaimed founders of VIP style, the next great Japanese micro-trend to surface in America. “Bippu style,” as it is colorfully known in Japan, starts with a high-power luxury sedan. The car is slammed on ultra-thin tires and trimmed with boxy body kits. At first glance, a VIP style car might look like any tuner sedan on its way to Hot Import Nights, but there are specific details that set it apart.A VIP style car might have a billet grille or metallic trim lines or polished wood inside. Window curtains are big.

So are aftermarket emblems and hood ornaments. The look is a bit like Scarface Goes to Japan. And legend has it VIP style has roots in the yakuza (organized crime in Japan). True or not, Taketomi makes a strong case on its behalf.Through a translator, Taketomi tells us he built his first VIP style car, a Nissan Cedric, in 1993. Three years later he founded Junction Produce, which specializes in products for VIP style cars. Today it is one of the best-known marques in VIP tuning and has its brand on everything from body kits to wheels to cuff links and bracelets. Junction Produce is also the first company of its kind to make a big push into the United States.According to Taketomi, true VIP style tuning is limited to only 10 Nissan and Toyota models: Nissan President, Cima, Gloria, Cedric and Fuga; Toyota Celsior, Century, Aristo, Crown and Majesta. That’s it. Since most of those models come with powerful turbocharged engines in Japan, VIP style cars are rarely tuned for performance.

More important is that they’re slammed as low as they can go on the widest wheels possible. Most of the other tuning parts somehow assist in this goal.VIP stylers use air suspensions to raise their cars to install the wheels and tires and then lower the car on top. Tires are stretched beyond their limits to fit on oversized wheels. Extreme offsets are used so the wheel lips kiss the fenders. And it’s not unusual to see 245/30R tires on 19x10.5-inch wheels—the tuning equivalent of Fat Albert wearing the shorts of his enunciation-challenged friend Mushmouth.Kelvin Tohar of Falken Tires, which is helping to spread the word in America, says, “It’s not the safest thing to do and Falken doesn’t recommend you do it for daily driving, but it’s the style.” Falken has partnered with Junction Produce to hawk its line of FR452 tires. In exchange Falken promotes Junction Produce at tuner shows and SEMA events, like the International Auto Salon, where we met Taketomi.Tohar, who has his own VIP style Lexus GS 300 that he calls by its Japanese moniker Aristo, tells me elegance is the underlying statement. “At car shows, most [owners] won’t raise their hoods because it disrupts the flow of the car,” he says. “Even the Junction Produce exhaust is more of an aesthetic.”Elegance is the word that’s repeated like a mantra by VIP style owners and companies. But it’s a strange sort of elegance. VIP style companies like Junction Produce, Wald and Auto Couture have logos that look vaguely Oxford Street but are more a Japanese version of mafia royalty, without any ironic subtext, like you’d imagine the parts delivered in purple velvet bags, à la Crown Royal.And the parts aren’t cheap. Outfitting a car VIP style can run up to $20,000 and beyond. But as Tony Montana says in Scarface,

“You gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

www.vipstylecars.com

VIPstylecars.com - Quote from Admin

Back in 2000, when I first got the GS400, it was decided that the car would be a daily driver and I would keep it simple. However, like always that changed when I began to research what other parts were available in Japan and not here in the US. I picked up my first Hyper Rev book for the JZS161 Toyota Aristo, with the intention of finding rims for my GS. However, it wasn't the Blitz or Sard Aristo that caught my eye, it was the Aristos from the companies like Fabulous, Sessions, and of course Junction Produce. There began this obsession for this thing called VIP Style Cars.VIP Style or VIP car is very simple.

Pronounced VIP or bippu not vee-eye-pee, like how we are used to saying it, but it is pronounced like a word. In Japan there is a large variety of luxury sedans available to purchase. VIP car starts with just that, the platform or the car. It’s not a VIP Car unless it starts with one of these cars. From Toyota, you have the Century, Celsior, Aristo, Crown, and Majesta. From Nissan you have the President, Cima, Gloria, Cedric, and the Q45. Then they take these platforms and merge on a massive body kit, larger rims that push the boundaries of offset fitment, an air suspension so that they can drive as low as they possibly can, and we can't forget about the exhausts that goes on these VIP Cars. Now, taking these aspects of a VIP Car, you then apply it to cars not accepted as a VIP Car.

This in turn created a term I like to define as VIP Style Cars. There is a difference in Japan in regards to a VIP Car and lets say a K-Car or Style Wagon. All those styles bring up similar aspects of VIP Car but what makes a VIP Car “VIP” is the car itself. Taking the aspects that was started in Japan with the VIP Cars and merging them onto cars that aren't really considered VIP car platforms. You now see K-cars (Vitz, Scion, and other econo-box cars), vans (Oddessy and Previas) and many other vehicles (G35, IS300, 300Zs) with a heavy VIP Style influence. That also has trickled into our US market with the Scions xA and xB. European cars can fall within the “definition of a VIP car” but isn't as popular of a platform mainly because of an untold requirement. VIP Car has a sense of pride within the Japanese community on its luxury vehicles. However, I am now seeing shows like the Tokyo Special Import Car Show similar to Tokyo Auto Salon now being invaded by Junction Produce, Fabulous, and Auto Couture. When they build their car, they immense themselves in the culture of VIP Car… Noburi Flags, clothing, and getting EVERY accessory that the company made like lighters, teddy bears, fans, and other things.

Fitment of the wheels has always been the largest, most defining aspect that the US market uses for VIP Cars. This also brings the most controversy as well. The most heated debates on VIPStyleCars.com came from topics concerning cars and wheel fitments. We had terms like, if it ain't flush, it ain't VIP. I agree that proper fitment is the key to making a VIP Car look good, however my whole take on it… the car determines if it's a VIP car, not the wheel choice. When I had the chance to visit Japan recently, I saw VIP cars that didn't have the extreme wheel lip that we are so used to seeing here. Yes, the offsets were extremely aggressive however; they were still flat-faced wheels with no lip whatsoever. I just don't think it looks right unless the fitment was aggressive in my opinion, which is the reason I'm personally on a quest for new wheels for our GS400.Next is the suspension, Air suspensions have become the norm. One main reason is the fact that some of these VIP cars come with a factory installed air suspension already. All that needed to be added to control this factory option was an Air controller like one from Data Systems. This gave you the chance to lower and raise your car without changing any suspension parts.

This didn't bring the car down as low as we would like it to be, so then we went and looked up companies like Air Runner, Bold World, Universal Air, Canover, and many others. You had a choice of either a canister setup or the sleeve bag on a shock option. That way, you were able to just lay the frame on the car down on the ground and still be able to drive away when its time to go. Trust me, in Japan, their roads and driveways weren't pretty, how they drove these cars around on a daily basis boggles me… Coilovers are still VERY popular for the hardcore, cause they are still able to find the height that they want for driving and show purposes and costs less than half the price of air suspension set-ups. Hydraulic setups are now being touched upon by the likes of Tein to control their coilovers and be able to raise and lower the car from within the cabin. This is only available to wagons and vans from when I last looked into it, but I'm sure now, there might be more applications and companies venturing into this.Interiors and sound systems of these cars can get very Gotti. Wood grain and screens are the first most obvious mods on the interior.

You will see Wood grain trays on these cars. Screens for Navigation and of course, Video viewing is dominant. The sound systems I saw were very elaborate like the ones were see here in CES. One some cars, I saw wood grain all over the trunk to accent the subs that were stuffed in there.Lastly, the body kits… Companies like Fabulous, Junction Produce, Wald, Veilside, Sessions, Auto Couture, Insurance, and many others offer a variety of styles to choose from. The defining factor is the size of these kits. They are never “puny” but more an elaboration of the factory lines. You can choose from the more milder, cleaner look like from Junction Produce, Admiration and Auto Couture. Then you can choose the aggressive lines like Fabulous, LA club, and Veilside. Then the EXTREME VIP Cars will come out with custom wide bodies and fender flares that will just make you take a double take more than once (even if that's not possible). Taking a cue from the wheels aspect of it, they then take the most widest wheel with the most aggressive offset possible and just bolt those onto the car with no problems.

Where does this all fit into the US market? With companies whose operations are based here are now trying to define the VIP market as Bentleys, Benzes, and other high end Euro cars, it basically leaves out the cars where it all began with for me, The Lexus GS and LS, and the Infiniti M and Q series. Yes, the US automobile market may not have the choice of Japanese luxury cars found in Japan but we make do with what we are provided. However the view of VIP Car or VIP Style Cars is being EXTREMELY skewed in the US and leaves the hardcore VIP Car enthusiast with a sour taste in its mouth. VIP Car starts with the platform first. 350Zs, G35s, Scions, Accords, and other cars are defining the VIP Style Car… VIP Style Cars was mainly a term devised to help define the difference from a VIP Car platform and a car accessorized with VIP styling. This website has room for everyone. I created this site for the reason to give these people a home to learn and educate each other. Whether you own a VIP Car or own a VIP Style Car… Yes, we will have to define our own definition of VIP Style Cars but we can't stray too far from the foundation of it all.

There will be those of us who will stick to our VIP Car platforms and those who will decide that their Scion fits the platform as well. Both sides are correct in that matter. What is wrong is to decide that our VIP Car platforms are not acceptable platforms