BOSOZOKU

BOSOZOKU

This week, I am going to be talking about the Japanese customization style called Bosozoku, which as I learned during my research, literally translates to "reckless tribe". Now, in case you are completely clueless as to what this is, here are some examples. 

For the most part, its everything I usually hate in a custom car. Its gaudy, flashy, more show then go, and usually involves taking an already brilliant automobile, like the red Skyline above, and "destroying" it. But for some reason, its extremely appealing to me. Of course, I've tried to find the more tastefully done examples, which wasn't that easy. The "reckless tribe" responsible for starting this, started out with illegally modifying motorbikes with flashy ornaments, paint schemes and christmas lights (literally in some circumstances) and taking off the muffler or otherwise modifying exhaust systems, to make them even noisier. (See below)

The car modifications with the wide, overly exaggerated body kit, wheels that are too small and a wildly exposed, or even attached to the outside, intercooler, was meant to replicate the stylings of the 4th gen group 5 special production racers that ran from 76 to 82, like this Lancia Beta racer shown below

And as you can see

 It really got 

Kind of ridiculous

Now I'm not really sure why this appeals to me. Maybe its because we don't have anything this crazy here in the US. Maybe its because it looks like a fun project. Or maybe its just the thought of everyone staring at me like I'm crazy, but this looks like an amazing style that I would one day love to do something with.