We didn’t know what to expect going into the TAS this
year.Almost every car maker has
reported negative growth and losses in 2008.As the first show of 2009, would the TAS give us a glimpse of what 2009
would be like?Would it be dark and
gloomy without any of the glamour?
There was really
nothing to worry about because TAS kicked off the year with another great
display of tuned cars.So some of the
big players were gone and maybe there were a fewer race queens at the
booths.But any decent company should
tone down their booth in this economy and heck less girls made it strolling
about the hall easier with fewer camera kids (aka stalkers) hounding the girls.At least that’s how I tried to convince
myself that the show was better without the girls…(sigh…)
The big booth space by the entrance originally occupied by
Veilsidewas taken over by HKS last
year.When HKS pulled out this year, to
save costs, the space became a lounging area.Audio maker Eclipse canceled right before the show and Trust/Greddy filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and obviously was a no show.
The TAS organizers from Sanei announced that 230, 000 people
visited this year’s show compared to the 250,000 visitors from last year.By combining the show with the “Import Auto
Salon”, which took place in the annex hall across the street from the main hall
at Makuhari Messe, they reported that the overall exhibitors, cars and booths increased in numbers
compared to 2008.
While Honda rolled out a fairly large yet tuner conservative
lineup for this year's Tokyo Auto Salon, in-house tuner Mugen decided go the
other direction to produce a small yet very tuner-enhanced lineup for the
show. The most noteworthy of that bunch was the Mugen NSX-RR Concept,
which appeared at the show sporting a Super GT-esque aero kit that blew show
goers away. Although the concept appeared at the show without an engine
to be found, that still didn't take away from the amazing aero that Mugen came
up with for this show. The performance mods and proposed power output for the
NSX-RR Concept is currently shrouded in mystery.
Mugen NSX RR
Another stealth but equally crazy NSX is this left hand
drive NSX-R from Spoon Sports.We
reported earlier that Spoon was planning on building a left hand drive Type R
for the US
market but this was the first time anyone had actually seen it.
