The drive from Suzuka to Nagoya was really pleasant now that the weather was clearing up. It was also really neat to see more of the country and get out of the city area.
A cool looking Honda Airwave.
I spotted this cool looking FD2 in traffic…
At first they were confused by me taking pictures, then I smiled and waved and they gave me the JDM peace sign and laughed. I was really trying to take pictures of the stickers that covered this car. Normally you wouldn’t consider Spoon, Mugen, Recaro, ect as ricey stuff but this car was obviously overdone.
This car had a set of CE28Ns as well as some aero and a huge Voltex wing. If only it wasn’t covered with tons of stickers.
-__-
We got on the Isewangan Expressway and headed north across the Ibi River.
Nissan Laurel with aero, exhaust and wheels…
On our way into Nagoya we drive through Toyota City which is located in Mikawa, east of Nagoya. We passed over the holding yard where they store cars that are shipping out to various parts of the world.
Part of the Toyota factory
The roads in the country never stopped impressing me. All of the toll roads were perfectly smooth and even old parts of old cities had nicely constructed roads.
Getting into Nagoya we started seeing this giant walls on either side of the freeway.
It was also not without tunnels… we could pass through them often on the trip. Again, all nicely constructed and amazingly clean.
These walls followed the roads throughout the city and their purpose is to keep the sound from the passing traffic out of residential areas. All of this construction was fairly new, and very cool looking.
Some of the walls even had windows which were cleaned often.
After getting off of the expressway there was a bit of traffic, so what better to do than watch a Japanese baseball game in HD! If you have a receiver capable of accepting the TV signal, you can watch free HD TV which is broadcast throughout the country. Insane.
This was a Toyota dealership and it’s nothing like we have in America. The name is called Toyopet and you’d go here to buy a variety of Toyota cars.
Odd building with the name “TEAR” on it… haha
I was looking through all of the pictures that I took and I honestly never remember taking this one. In any case, it’s a near looking SUV/Van/Wagon thing and a JDM girl. 
I spotted this modded EK9 while driving through one of the neighborhoods in Nagoya.
This part of Japan was very nice and out of all of the places we visited, I found this place to be the most like my home. A medium sized city that was very suburb-ish…
A pretty normal looking street and neighborhood.
Many of the building and homes out here were really modern looking. Not many traditional Japanese buildings were around.
Continue down through the neighborhood and you’ll stumble upon this. Holding true to their name, you’ll find Back Yard Special.
We had made it. In the middle of a nice neighborhood in Nagoya, Japan, is one of the oldest Honda tuning companies in the world. This place had been here for ever and you can tell these guys are true Honda enthusiasts.
Out in front of their one stall garage, there was a silver Honda beat with Mugen wheels.
A set of authentically old Mugen CF-48s.
This was a serious beat… One that I was actually interested in, although it doesn’t look like it has moved in a while.
You can see the B18C Type R motor planted into the back of this thing. This has to be so much fun to drive.
The BYS CR-Z was parked out front looking as nice as ever.
FD2 Type R Brembos and a set of WedsSport SA-60M wheels.
I’ not sure how I feel about the chrome graphics on the side but it’s certainly a cool Japanese fashion.
Volk and WedsSport wheels on display.
A giant Mugen Power sign right below the BYS sign.
Old school scooters were also on display.
The award for the coolest ashtry goes to…
This door mat was awesome.
Stepping inside of the front door, you’re greeted by Suzuki San’s Honda S600. He said he brought it inside to keep it out of the weather, but he still drives it. Every now and then he will pull it out and drive it around.
This car was in extremely good condition for it’s age. If I recall correctly, Suzuki San mentioned he bought the car back in the 70′s and has had it ever since.
The number plates means he still drives this thing which is what we like to see.
After chatting with Suzuki San we asked if he would open the hood so we could look inside.
A collection of Honda valve covers were on display, as well as various aero parts. This place was filled with so much stuff, it’s was hard to look at everything. You could tell that Suzuki San loves all of this stuff and he keeps most of this stuff as treasures.
So many parts…
Mugen gear knobs, thermostat, radiator cap and a handful of NGK spark plugs.
Oils and other various sorts of fluids.
All of the CR-Z parts were put in a single section. I didn’t realize BYS made most of this stuff…
More CR-Z specific stuff and a Volk RE30 wheel on display.
Along the wall you can see other parts for the FD2, as well as a cabinet full of treasures.
BYS CR-Z E-brake covers.
BYS harness brackets as well as a stainless dead pedal cover.
FD2 Brembo upgrade kit.
Cool little FD2 Civic scale model on the floor.
Trophies, collectible toys and other random bits filled the cabinet.
More awards and trophies on top of the cabinet. Check out the carb setup from an old race engine.
This was a picture of Suzuki San when he bought his first NSX back in 1990.
Here is a section of Beat parts. The gauge cluster is so tiny, reminds me of something you’d find on a sport bike.
BYS Specific Beat coilovers on the bottom… I can only imagine how rare those are.
There was more stuff piled up in the back corner of the show room. Even a B18C longblock…haha
Check out the giant Mugen Power sign hanging on the wall. This thing has to be super old as it was milled out of wood and painted black.
Suzuki San had a glass display with a ton of random little stickers, emblems and other very old and very rare goods. Most were not for sale, but I guess for the right price he would let some go. Tim found a horn button that he thought would look great in his DC5 and it turned out to be a titanium horn button from the NSX Type R. Suzuki San also had a set of original emblems for his S600, brand new in the packages. He said they were most certainly not for sale, although he has them remade as new-old-stock parts.
A set of headers that came off one of the Formula Mugen cars.
BYS wasn’t without the heard of shop dogs… there were a few Dachshunds roaming around behind the counters.
I love the “furniture” in this place as it all seemed to be made of racing car parts. Check out this center lock WedsSport TC105N racing wheel made into a small table. The complete BYS catalog was on top.
Next to Suzika San’s desk you can see a variety of NSX specific parts.
He was telling us about the spoiler and about his NSX. He mentioned that it was in the shed next to the shop and that we could go check it out if we wanted.
Hatsuo Suzuki himself. He said his NSX was dusty and that he was sorry. I told him that no NSX of mine would ever be dusty. He laughed pretty hard at that and then agreed.
If you have ever watched any of the olde Option or Best Motoring DVD’s you have seen the BYS NSX. My camera wasn’t doing so well in the low light so bare with on the next few pictures.
On the lift in above the NSX you can see the BYS mid-engined CRX that was a engineering marvel back in the 80s’s.
The front and rear ends of this car were completely custom built to support the Toyota 4AGE engine.
Complete custom rear end and rear subframe.
There was some BYS parts in a box behind the cars as well as a lot of old stuff hanging out on the shelves. It looks like my grandpa’s garage but filled with old Honda stuff!
Parked out on the street was a very nice DC2 Type R. I assumed it was one of the mechanics and I regret not getting more pictures of it.
You can see where the NSX and CRX race car live.
The famous Back Yard Special… also Alpine car audio shop. lol
I wandered over to the install bay and it is literally no larger than a normal garage you’d find at someone’s home.
So much stuff…
Is it weird that I took pictures of the BYS trash?
Nah… not weird at all.
We went back inside and talked with Suzuki San more, mostly about the direction of Honda and how he feels about it. His response was somewhat surprising. He agreed that the direction of the green technology was good, but it isn’t why we love Honda. He said that we have no other choice but to have faith, and that he will continue to keep the racing spirit alive in hopes that Honda will return to being as involved in motorsports as they once were. We showed him our FD2 shifter as well as our booklet and he said they were “maniac,” which is a Japanese way of saying like OCD or very detailed and thorough.
Tim put some BYS stickers on his fender as he said these guys were worthy of representing.
We took a picture with all of them but I can’t seem to find it. :-/ In any case, it was an honor to meet these guys and have them talk with us for a while. We will be back and look forward to working with Suzuki San in the future!!
Back on the road, we stopped at a 7-11 to grab some drinks before our trip into Tokyo and I saw a Mister Donut. haha
I love the scenery in Japan, especially in Nagoya.
On the way our I spotted this huge motorcycle dealership.
Traditional Japanese building.
Super cool Fit RS in traffic.
JDM military.
R34 GTR on a trailer headed somewhere.
Nice Toyota Altezza.
As the sun set, we pulled off to a rest area to use the facilities, stretch and get some drinks before we head into Tokyo. We weren’t far away now.
A nice Subaru STi was in the parking lot.
This place was super new and super awesome.
The bathroom in the place had a monitor which showed you which stall was available.
Not really sure what these where, but I think it was a traffic map telling us there was a wreck ahead.
In the gift shop I spotted this guy wearing some sort of costume and his girlfriend was taking a picture of it. haha
Nice pudding cups.
We watched the sun set out here and then made our way back into the car. We drove for a few more hours before we would arrive in Chiba, Japan.
Thanks for reading and check out next weeks entry when we visit Seeker Japan.
-David