- I have a question for you. (enigmatic electronic music)
Have you ever thought about the fact
that there were retired kamikaze pilots?
Guys who were conditioned to fly their planes
into ships as weapons who didn't get to do that.
And then the war ended,
and then they had to go home and live lives.
Just think about that for a second.
How do you go back to your normal life after that,
what do you do to fill the time?
They made stuff like this.
Kinda.
But what is this?
It's a bosozoku Toyota Cressida,
and we're about to go bumper to bumper on it!
So strap in, grandma, there's a bear outside,
and the doctor's in the kitchen with mommy!
Yeah, it's an absurd intro, and this is an absurd car.
This is Bumper 2 Bumper.
I'm James Pumphrey, and Jesse's over there (laughs).
(invigorating rock music)
Big thanks to Kove Audio for partnering with us
for this episode of Bumper 2 Bumper.
This is the Kove Commuter Portable
Wireless Bluetooth Speaker, and let me tell ya,
this thing bumps.
♪ Power baby ♪
♪ Power ♪
Baby, all I gotta do to get the tunes goin'
is connect from my phone, my computer, or my tablet,
and I can play music from up to 30 feet away,
that's about six meters, and with a charge
that lasts up to eight hours, you can take it errwhere.
It even doubles as a speaker phone,
and you can put it right in your cup holder,
which I can do because I'm plastic free now.
If you follow the link below, you can get
this Kove Commuter for 65% off!
That's the best deal we've ever offered on this show.
Thanks again Kove, I'm really like stoked about this thing,
I have two of them now, so, mahalo baby.
(intense electronic music)
After returning home from Doub Doub Two,
kamikaze pilots had a lot of trouble
adapting to the humdrum routine of everyday life again,
and they were looking for thrills,
so they bought motorcycles, modified the mufflers to be
extra loud, and terrorized the streets together at night.
People called them kaminari zoku, or thunder tribe.
(thunder clap)
As the kamikaze pilots got too old to make trouble,
newer generations of rebellious working class teens
picked up where they left off.
They even took their awesome style, called tokkō-fuku,
their motorcycle mods got more extreme
with ridiculously tall rear seats,
raised handlebars, and colorful paint jobs on big bearings.
They rode recklessly and purposefully clogged up streets.
The dude is freakin' circlin' around a cop car.
After a couple of massive group runs
blocked traffic and incited riots in tranquil neighborhoods,
the Japanese media started called calling them bosozoku,
which translates to violent running tribe.
True to the name, a lot of bosozoku members
got into fierce disagreements with rivals,
carried weapons, and ended up in the yakuza.
Just like Nolan, if he takes his shirt off,
he is covered in tattoos.
(traditional Japanese music) (fierce yell)
Police crackdowns have drastically reduced
the number of real gang members since the peak in 1982,
but the crazy modifications lived on,
and somewhere along the way, cars started getting
the same treatment as the motorsicles.
Today, I am here with this bosozoku-style 1982 Cressida,
which is arguably the automotive version of me.
I'm a boy from Kentucky.
You know what kind of lives a boy from Kentucky
and a 1980 Cressida usually lead?
The kind that nobody notices! (thunder clap)
But neither one of us wanted that,
so I moved to LA, bought a blazer
and some skinny jeans, and died my hair blond.
Max, roll that footage from that party we went to.
(intense electronic music)
Not willing to live the typical Toyota Sedan life,
this car transformed into something
that doesn't just scream look at me!
It demands it.
This is one of only a tiny handful
of bosozoku-style cars built on American soil.
And I tell ya, these parade floats (laughs)
are some of my favorite things in the world.
(smooth 80's music)
The builders of this Cressida are the Moonlight Runners,
also known as John and Astrid.
They grew up in the American punk scene,
and they felt a special connect with the bosozoku culture
of young motorheads who challenged authority.
When they discovered they didn't quite fit in
with typical car enthusiasts around here,
they were inspired to build something different.
Bosozoku gives a big ole middle finger
to the conservative blend in aesthetic.
This is anything but mundane.
Now if I wanna change my hair,
I can just go to a salon and pay someone to do it,
or I can go to a racetrack, which is where I dyed my hair.
But it turns out you can't just go on eBay
and order all these crazy parts for your 1980 Cressida.
You can't even get 'em for a Corona Mark II either,
which is what this car is called in Japan.
So what is a bosozoku lover to do?
D-I-Y, just do it yourself.
(James burps)
The Moonlight Runners learned everything as they went,
fabricating all of their own custom bodywork
with a little help from neighbors
and friends at Old Town Restorations in Orange County.
With bosozoku cars, most of the action is on the exterior.
You might think it's all just one style,
but you'd be wrong, dead wrong.
There's a lot of different subtypes,
there's garuchan, based on Group 5 Super Silhouette
race cars and their functional aero features,
there's kyusha, a more understated look
usually seen on classic Japanese cars,
shakotan and yankii are race-inspired
lowriders with fender flares and stretch tires.
Some people even consider VIP Sedans
or bippu to be a subset of the bosozoku style.
It's all a bubble chart, guys,
we are all made of stardust, everything is connected.
time is a construct, nothing is real.
But there are no rules when it comes to expressing
one's personal style, and bosozoku is really a combination
of bits from any and all of them.
This car combines many elements of shakotan,
with ultra-low stance, big flares, and wide wheels,
and grachan with this huge, huge front splitter.
Let's talk about this splitter for a second.
It's impossible to ignore, go ahead and try, I'll wait.
(clock ticking)
You couldn't, could ya?
On the Group 5 Silhouette racers
that this was based on, protruding splitters were used
to help direct more air over the top of the cars,
increasing down force and improving traction.
This exaggerated, four-foot-long, behemoth
probably doesn't do that, because it's big enough
to host a dance off.
♪ Power baby ♪
This massive splitter looks like it's gonna scoop you up
and make you love it, just like me.
(kissing)
Bye.
Shakotan-style cars often run (smooth 80's music)
exposed front-mounted oil coolers
with oil lines running through the front grill
or an open headlight housing like this one.
The Moonlight Runners had one on a previous iteration
of their build, and it looks very racy,
but after an unfortunate traffic incident,
they decided to go without.
This headlight isn't missing for any reason
other than they haven't found a replacement
for the one that was damaged.
If any of you know where to get one,
these guys would love it if you drop them a line.
After the huge splitter, the other most look at me
feature of this car has got to be the exhaust.
These are called takeyari pipes, or bamboo spears,
and nothing makes a statement quite like 10 feet
of bright yellow exhaust tubing in the air.
It's an absolute must for any bosozoku fan,
and this Cressida does not disappoint.
Unlike my dad.
If you're out there, I hope you're done buying cigarettes,
'cause I'd love to talk to you.
There's no way you can miss the pipes
comin' straight out of the hood
and flying over the roof to come out up here.
The exhaust has to make a quick U-turn
right after it makes its way out of the headers.
Under the hood lies the same engine that came
in the Supra. (thunder clap)
No, not that one.
The Supra of the time, Toyota's 2.6 liter
4ME straight-6, making a blistering 110 HRSPRS.
In fact, this was the first motor that Toyota made
that offered fuel injection in the United States.
Let's go look at the sides (laughs).
(intense electronic music)
The sides keep the party going,
starting with the aggressive shakotan-style fender flares
in another nod to the classic JDM race car look.
They are made of custom-molded fiberglass
and carefully curved to flow with the Cressida's body lines.
Tucked under them are fat AF SSR Mark I wheels,
13 by 10 upfront, and 13 by 12 in the back.
You know, super common size.
The custom side skirts have just centimeters to spare
between themselves and the harshest of bodywork mistresses,
that (beep) known as the ground.
(scraping) (laughter)
The goal of this build wasn't speed,
and obviously, you can't go too fast
on public roads with all these pavement-skimming parts,
the goal was to have a car that the owners
would get a kick out of cruising on the weekends,
and one that would make your eyeballs say, w-w-w-what?
Something else your eyeballs should seriously appreciate
is this incredible pin striping.
A lot of bosozoku cars are painted eye-catching colors
or in two-tone schemes that represent
the province that they're from,
but they don't have pinstripes like this.
Purple and silver was always the Moonlight Runners's
preferred combo, and Astrid spent 60 hours
painstakingly thinking about how the paint would go on
and exactly where to lay the tape.
It took two weeks complete the paining itself.
And the result works.
The number plate on the door is also a classic
Kaido Racer feature, with the 32 referencing
the MX32 Cressida chassis coat.
(clap)
Back here, there's a signature on the C-pillar,
why is there a kanji signature on the C-pillar of this car?
Well, that's where Kei Miura, creator of Rocket Bunny,
you ever heard of it, left his mark.
When our friends at Hardcore Toyko,
'sup Jun!
When Jun was putting their booth together at FD Long Beach,
the original display car fell through,
so Miura-san asked to park the Moonlight Runner's Cressida
in the booth instead.
If you think about it, it's very cool
to have your car recognized and acknowledged
by the godfather of overfenders.
(clap)
Around back are these sick-looking vents
that were sourced from a Mark II MR2.
I also love this tall NASCAR-style spoiler
that is grafted into the trunk lid
and the rear quarter panel.
A shaved rear end is not only a funny way
to groom your dog but also an incredible way
to cap off a bosozoku build.
The license plate is even tweaked upward
at an angle, in a nod to Japanese gangs,
because it's harder for the cops to read the numbers.
(heavy electronic music)
The Moonlight Runners's attention to detail
carried on through the interior too.
This place is decked out with more crushed purple velvet
than my daddy's lingerie drawer.
The seat covers make you feel
like you're sitting on a throne.
The dash cover features legit crystal and tassel fringe
in beige to complement the stock interior color.
Even the door panels got the amethyst velvet treatment.
Forget the rug man,
they're what really the ties the room together.
This is absolutely tiny, teensy-weensy,
(laughs) little, teeny, teeny, teeny Grant steering wheel
probably is the only American-inspired thing about this car.
It's more of a hallmark to the lowrider style,
and it doesn't make turning those fat tires
with no power steering any easier either,
but like the front splitter and takeyari pipes
on the exterior, it's one of those key
look at me pieces of the interior.
Almost everything else here is functional 1980 Cressida.
In fact, when Cressidas were new,
car magazines raved about how quiet they were to cruise in.
(engine starts)
(engine roars)
You know, quiet.
It's nice and quiet and luxurious.
The cherry on top is this flashing purple warning light.
The car just wouldn't be complete about it.
Ow. (laughter)
(upbeat rock music)
You can't help but lose your (beep) and smile
when you see a car like this cruisin' down the road.
You might not like it, but you gotta respect
John and Astrid for building it.
They now have another car in the works,
and a future kit for people who wanna build
their own bosozoku-style rides.
I might be hitting them up in the fut.
So but thanks to the Moonlight Runners
for loaning us this car.
They hope to use this car to organize events
and help kids and the homeless in their community.
And gangs are all about community.
Gang, gang.
Hey guys, if you're like me, you love stunts,
you ever wonder how they do them?
I wondered, so we made a show where I find out how.
We drive a car under a semi-truck
like in The Fast and Furious.
It's every Wednesday for the next three weeks.
It's tight.
Thanks for watching Donut Media.
If you guys didn't watch it, I wouldn't get to make it.
Honestly, this is my dream job,
I think about it every day when I go to work.
Follow me on Instagram at @jamespumphrey,
follow Donut on Instagram and Twitter now at @donutmedia,
watch this episode of my son Nolan's show WheelHouse,
and watch this episode of my other show Up to Speed.
Lots of new shows coming all summer
and throughout the year, so make sure you subscribe
to the channel so you don't miss anything.
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I love you!