No one does retro better than the Japanese, and when you add that sensibility to the country’s homegrown car culture, you get the Mooneyes Hot Rod Custom Show.

First published in the February 2025 issue of Street Machine

Held for one day only on 1 December at the Pacifico Convention Centre in Yokohama, the 32nd running of Mooneyes continued its tradition of bringing an astounding variety of vehicles and styles together in one place. Whether it’s customs, hot rods, mini-trucks, Volkswagen, lowriders, cool bikes or classic JDM rides that rock your world, you’ll find them all at Mooneyes, with organiser Shige Suganuma and his team packing the halls with incredible builds.

As a huge fan of all of the above, and having never been to Japan, a visit to the Mooneyes Yokohama show has long been on my to-do list, and 2024 was the year it finally happened. Walking into the venue on Saturday’s set-up day had me giggling with excitement as the scale of the show and the sheer breadth and quality of the vehicles hit home.

I was barely 10 metres inside when the gorgeous ‘Flaming Gene’ 1958 Pontiac of Yonezawa Kazuhiro stopped me in my tracks. The once two-door sedan has been converted to a hardtop and treated to a heap of custom body mods, including a three-inch chop and custom front and rear end treatments that incorporate era-contemporary Corvette and Impala parts. A 400-cube Poncho mill resides under the bonnet, and the white-with-candy-pink-flames machine scored the Coby Gewertz/Church Equipped’s Choice plaque and trophy handsaw!

As the hall continued to fill on set-up day, with lanes of mind-blowing builds forming, I found it be such an instructive reflection of Japan’s car scene and Japanese culture more generally. As I stood back to absorb the naturally chaotic process of positioning nearly 1000 show cars and bikes around a gaggle of support vehicles, display construction and the stocking of vendor stalls, I couldn’t help but notice how respectful Japanese people are towards their fellow humans, with not an ounce of aggro or attitude on display. There’s not many cultures in the world that could pull off the hectic set-up phase of a major car show with such grace and relative peace and quiet.

Another car to catch my eye on Saturday was the 1950 Ford single-spinner of Aussie Jason Kennedy, who joined forces with his great mate, custom paint maestro Kyle Smith from Smith Concepts, to completely refurbish Jason’s custom shoebox before plonking it into a container and shipping it to Japan for the show.

“So good; just so good,” was Jason’s enthusiastic summation of his Mooneyes experience. “The support we’ve had, both from back in Australia with Enthusiast Motor Insurance and here in Japan from some of the local car club guys, has made the whole process relatively seamless. It’s the first-ever Australian-based car entered here, so there was no real well-trodden path for us to follow; we just knew it had to be here at a certain place by a certain time, so we got it happening.”

With its perfectly flamed candy paintwork and lashings of chrome, Jason’s stunning Ford seriously popped under the show lights – no mean feat considering its comparatively dark colour scheme among a convention centre full of eye-popping hues – and the Best Kustom award it won following Saturday night’s judging was a fitting testament to the skills of all involved.

“We turned up early on Sunday morning to give the car a once-over, and the award plaque was literally just sitting there in front of the car – no fuss and no fanfare, which is so beautifully typical of the Japanese culture,” Jason marvelled. “I said to Kyle, ‘Holy shit, how good is this? This day can’t get any better!’ Then my partner, Kate, turned up on a surprise visit, so the day actually did get better! We’ll be back next year for sure, but without a car so we can purely enjoy the social side in and around the event a little more.”

In addition to the Best Kustom gong, the ’50 also earned a ‘Participation Award’, a trophy that’s far more significant at Mooneyes than the ‘everyone wins a prize’ equivalents we’re used to at Aussie shows. These awards are only presented to the cars that are judged to be among the premier tier of all those entered, and Jason’s spinner was certainly that.

Come Sunday morning at 8am, it was officially show time, and the first of around 24,000 spectators began flowing into the hall. While those kind of numbers would have Pacifco virtually bursting at the seams as the day progress, the vibe remained oddly unchaotic throughout.

Mooneyes offers one of the best kick-starts to any show: the ‘drive-in’ of a select group of cars and bikes that parade into the hall under their own power. Seeing and hearing hot rods like Coby Gewertz’s Hemi-powered ’34 coupe rumble in was an experience I’ll not soon forget.

Queues for the Mooneyes stand and supporting merchandise stalls were very healthy throughout the day, but there was plenty of stock on hand to ensure you could return home with whatever treasures took your fancy.

Bathurst couple Mardi and Jon Smoother were two of a number of Aussies making the pilgrimage to Yokohama for the 2024 show and are regular attendees whenever time and finances allow. “I can pretty much sum up our Japan in experience in two words: ‘humble’ and ‘real’,” Jon said. “My experience with Japanese folk in the hot rod and custom world is that they genuinely live and breathe the lifestyle. The passion and determination they have to see something through to completion is next level. Their adaptability to overcome the lack of supply with cars and parts is something else as well; they value items that we would probably just throw away in Australia.

“The sensible level of fit and finish on the vehicles is also refreshing – cars built to a standard that can be accomplished by the average person yet still be very useable and actually driven and enjoyed on a regular basis.”

Mardi wholeheartedly concurred with Jon’s assessment. “Attending the show is fantastic, but we’ve also made some great friendships along the way with local customisers who happily welcome you into their shops and lives,” she said. “A train-hopping journey to the Borders Inc. custom shop at Nagoya has been a highlight. I have followed these guys online for some years now and was slightly emotional when we visited for the first time last year and they let me sit in their purple flamed Mercury! It’s these life experiences that are priceless.”

After an extremely hectic but once-in-a-lifetime experience at the show, I returned to my hotel exhausted, yet at the same time invigorated to tackle my new project when back on Aussie shores. The unspoken mantra of many of our Japanese car brethren seemed to be very similar to my own: build your car purely to please yourself.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of visiting the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, and Japan in general, do yourself a favour and make it a reality for 2025. Trust me, you won’t regret it!

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The featured international guest build at Mooneyes ’24 was US-based Coby Gewertz and his stunning ’34 Ford coupe dubbed ‘Saint Christopher’. The Goodguys 2023 Hot Rod of the Year-winning coupe sounded as tough as it looked during the Sunday-morning drive-in, with the 331ci Chrysler Hemi sporting EFI-converted Enderle injection and a trick hidden cooling system.

2. Aussie Jason Kennedy shipped his stunning 1950 Ford single-spinner to Yokohama for Mooneyes and came away with the Best Kustom award. The car scored a complete makeover after its original Candy Apple Red duco copped significant gravel rash from a waywardly spilling tip truck. Jason and Kyle from Smith Concepts sharpened the exterior with fresh chrome and extra detailing to better match its eye-popping new paint.

3. Junji Tanaka’s fantastic-looking Datsun S30/Fairlady Z – a 240Z on our shores – features a MoTeC-controlled, injected, 3.1L N42 six-cylinder, backed by an S15 Nismo six-speed trans, BBS RS rims, and AP Racing brakes, all of which would make it a heap of fun to drive on the street or track.

4. Built by Passion Custom Works, the aptly named ‘King of Dually’ 1998 Chevrolet C3500 pick-up took up plenty of real estate within the Pacifico Convention Centre. It sports an array of billet, digital, airbag and stereo componentry, with detailing to the nth degree.

5. One of my personal favourites at the show was this simple yet perfectly executed Datsun 620 ute, riding super-low over Astro Supremes and whitewalls and sporting a white fluffy interior along with neat detailing throughout. It’s a very achievable build whose influences could easily be applied on a budget here in Australia to a later-model HiLux or similar.

6. Proof that imagination and individuality is encouraged in the Japanese car scene, the wild, 70s-inspired C3 Corvette of Kazuo Mizukawa sports a Weiand-blown 350 Chev, massive sidepipes, equally impressive Cragar S/S rims, and a wild flame job to really get jaws dropping!

7. Hideyuki Ogawa’s business name, Brook Motor Psycho, seems appropriate considering his insane, radically chopped, sectioned and channelled split-window VW Beetle build. The little Bug struggles to contain those whopping Cragar rims and nicely finished engine, and the chequered flag sunroof is a neat touch.

8. Yonezawa Kazuhiro’s 1958 Pontiac, ‘Flaming Gene’, was a firm favourite for many, and was displayed alongside other builds from the long-established Mary Poppins Kustoms car club – try getting away with that as a club name in Australia! While it sports countless body mods, the car remains all-Pontiac under the bonnet thanks to its 400-cube V8.

9. Mooneyes 2024 featured a swag of awesome VW Beetles, including this race-themed 1951 model. Built by Hiroyuiki Tani of Kahiko Kula VW Club, ‘Crazy Boost ’51’ runs a turbocharged 2109cc engine, flawless yellow paint and Moon discs.