Sabukaru Tokyo Cars - A Series by Sabukaru 003: Chiaki
#sabucars is a series featuring some of our favorite cars in Tokyo together with their owners. For the 3rd edition of Tokyo Cars, we met up with Car Service [@_carservice] member Chiaki [@neonsyrup] to talk about his car & his love for it.
On an autumn afternoon with the streets busy as usual in Tokyo, we met up with Chiaki in some backstreets near his office. Out of the hundreds and thousands of cars that you pass by every minute, one clearly stood out; a tuned-out, mint-green 1983 Volkswagen Golf Mk1.
The Golf Mk1 is the very first generation of the Volkswagen Golf series, debuting in 1974. Designed by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro [who later says the Golf Mk1 was the most important design in his career], the car was one of the first successful successors to the Volkswagen Beetle.
Chiaki bought his Mk1 back in 2016, roughly 5 years ago. However, when he first bought it, contrary to the ultra-clean look it currently has, it was in an unrideable condition. He spent the first entire year fixing it so it could move. Chiaki has been a huge fan of golf-tuning culture over in Europe, and always wanted to create his own. His dreams became a reality when his friend who runs a car shop brought him news of them selling an Mk1.
When you take a first glance at his car, it might look very "JDM" style with the cambered wheels and ultra-low suspension. However, many of the parts are in fact not Japanese at all. His rims are made by Compomotive, a UK brand, and his air-suspension system is also from abroad. One eye-catching feature that is Japanese though, is the paint job. The mint-green color is actually a Mitsubishi colorway, and he had his friend paint it that specific color after love at first sight with a Mitsubishi. Other than the paint job, most of the car is entirely built by Chiaki himself; he states there are many things he still wants to play with on his car.
For Chiaki, his car doesn't have one specific detail he loves. He loves the whole thing. Cars to him are something that makes life more enjoyable; you can live without them, but life's way better with one.
