Last night, I received a phone call from fellow Speedhunter Calvin Wan, who apparently was in town to drop off his FD3S RX7 to be transported to the Formula D event in Panama. He asked me if I would go to Garage Boso with him, where he needed to unload his SUV-full of CE28 wheels and Falken tires (seriously, it was packed to the roof! Wheels and tires and Apex exhaust on top of the clean leather interior…) to mount and balance them.
While we were at Garage Boso snooping around and talking with the shop co-owner, Frank Siharath, I was told there was a car in the corner that I might be interested in. Frank pointed out this 1973 Toyota Celica RA21. Apparently, Video Option founder Daijiro Inada found this Celica for sale in the USA and asked the talented owners for Garage Boso, Frank and Ross, to build it up for him.
Inada wants a cross platform, modern engine swap, which is something I'm definitely not a fan of when it comes to original condition Vintage Toyotas… however, Daijiro Inada hangs out with people like Okachan from Yashio Factory and Smokey Nagata from Top Secret… so you can tell what his influences are. Me personally, I'm not a fan of swapping out vintage Toyota engines in favor of modern engine swaps from non-Toyotas… and I certainly am not a fan of putting modern, non-period correct wheels on old cars. I just hate seeing 17 inch wheels with rubber band tires on old Japanese cars. However, some people actually like this stuff, and my tastes aren't always in line with everyone else's. (They should listen to me more! hehe jk)
This is a possible good feature story for some of our friends at the print magazines? Print mags, there's so much good stuff to feature at Garage Boso! I would get on it if I were you! Or maybe I'll just have to shoot them and sell the pics to you! haha…
-Antonio Alvendia