Meet Jiji!

This is Momoko, the oldest car in my stable, and our 2025 N.A. Nonsuri group project. We bought this car from our friend Juju, who used the car as a Touring kaido racer the year or so prior. Mr. X, Jason, Morgan, and I spent a total time of about two weeks transforming this car from this into what you see now. Starting in late August 2025, we worked on it every other week when we all had time, all the way up until 7 AM the morning of N.A. Nonsuri 2025, still 3 hours away from Apple Valley Speedway. We worked thorugh pretty much all of us passing around a bad cold to each other, day and night, with Mr. X putting in the most effort, staying at the HQ (my garage) for the entire week to bang out the car while the rest of us went to work and documented SEMA. Unfortunately, we didn't quite capture our vision, and the car looked fairly out of place at a Nonsuri event, as it still looked more like a Touring sort of car, but it was an absolute blast regardless, and we'd love to respec this car drastically some day, maybe when we all have sleep, and time.

At the time of writing this, I just recently acquired Ranma in eaely 2026 from my friend and former VP of Speed Tribe Sakura, Braelin, who was the car's caretaker since high school, with it being his first car. As you'd be able to tell from that statement, this car and I have quite the history together. As of now, I don't have any major plans for it, aside from passvively trying to source a manual trans and all of its accompanying components for a swap. The long term goal is to make a proper Shōwa-era street machine, ready to attack the mountain pass and do some low-power sliding. For now, however, it'll stay a fun little cruiser that looks the part, haha.

This underrated gem of Bubble Era Japan is Seiko, named after my favorite anime character of the time, Seiko Shinohara from Corpse Party, for the car's fun, quirky, and sometimes joking behavior, similar to the character. I received this car for free from my uncle in 2016, and since then, its progression has been slowed due to titling issues. However, that doesn't stop me from loving the living hell out of this thing, going as far as to give the suspension and steering system almost a complete overhaul in my high school auto shop alongside a few friends. This is a forever car alongside my IS300, as I reminisce the short rides in it with my uncle when I was just a little boy. In the garage awaits a Beams 3S-GE out of an ST202 Celica, ready to rev high!

Ah yes, the stimulus check Civic. I bought this in 2021 during the height of the Pandemic for $700 LOL! This 215,000 mile EG Civic Sedan was listed on FB Marketplace for about 3 hours before I saw the ad. Everything from a new transmission, a suspension refresh, and the most obvious, an exterior tune up, was performed. I acquired this car with the sole intention of having that cheap Honda fun and reliability while simultaneously living the dream I've always had of caring for a Golden Era Honda, just as my dad did back in the late 90's-early 00's with his Milano Red DC2 GS-R. Most of the parts are bought from either a Honda specialist site like JHP USA, or eBay, with the SSR Type X wheels being my personal favorite cherry on top, all that's left is to apply the Amane Kanta itasha livery and this Osaka-styled street runner will be near complete!

"Sakura" is the very first car in Speed Tribe Sakura. This car's history with me spans since 2002, brand new off of Lexus of Las Vegas' showroom turntables, with a 2-year old Gino jumping on the brand new seats in front of the whoel staff yelling "Papa's car!" again and again as my parents looked to trade dad's DC2 Integra GS-R for it. Long story short, they (probably embarassingly) made the trade, and I spent nearly my entire childhood in the backseat of this sports sedan. From high school, to the present, from the bad times in life to the most unforgettable, this is my true, 100% definition, of a forever car.

Another car seeing a resurgence in the tuning world is the ZZW30 Toyota MR2/MR-S. I purchased this worse for wear example in 2021 after totalling my ZN6 86 in an unfortunate accident. Luckily, this car has a secret hiding under the uh...bonnet? Boot? Anyway, it's got a 2ZZ-GE out of a Celica GT-S of the period, making roughly 40 more horsepower than the 1ZZ-FE Corolla engine that usually comes in these cars. With a lack of essentially all driver aids aside from ABS, this car is the most raw, soulful, and passionate driving car I have ever owned, and for that, it seems I can never get rid of it, even when I try. Her name, Aerith, comes from the FFVII character, who I'd say is almost always overshadowed by her in-game counterparts.

For a long time running, I had always loved the look of the E210 Corolla Hatchback. When in 2019 the first rumors dropped of it receiving the then-newly released GR Yaris' quirky, three-cylinder turbo drivetrain, all dreams of an FK8 Type R disappeared, and I knew I had to have it. Come 2023, I was able to snatch one up with colors reminiscent of Kaguya Shinomiya, my favorite character from my favorite anime of all time, Kaguya-sama, Love is War. Three years year and over 40,000 miles later, this little hot hatch has lived up to the fanfare and then some, and it won't be going anywhere soon. Now, it's just a matter of waiting for part prices to drop 😅