Retro Japanese Drag Racing

A lot of factors contributed to the demise of the Japanese drag scene, which for over 10 years was by far the prevalent form of tuning.

Tightening regulations, a progressively worsening economy and a lack of new cars to tune all helped bring an end to over a decade of high power-fuelled excitement.

Time attack and drifting are the new fads, so to speak, but a trip up to the Japan Drag Raceway in Sendai Hi-Land perfectly illustrates that drag racing is still very much alive.

G-Works Magazine, a publication primarily dealing with performance-tuned Japanese classics, holds drag meetings at what is the only official drag-strip in Japan, and even if it is a good five-hour drive from Tokyo, it’s worth the drive to get a glimpse at vintage drag racing.

The paddock at Hi-Land is nothing short of breathtaking, lined with the sort of vintage rides that are almost never associated with drag racing.

What you instantly notice is the obvious feel of authenticity from almost all of the cars present, a great deal of them preferring to use period-correct engines instead of dropping in highly tuned modern motors.

There is a lot of pride amongst owners of this generation of cars, and most are out to push the original vehicles to their limits without taking the easy way out and dropping in current-gen donks.

To modify an L28 and achieve 11sec passes takes a lot of skill and knowhow, and that is what this is all about.

There is definitely a sense of occasion seeing cars like KGC10 and PGC10 Skylines on big drag slicks pulling massive burnouts before shooting down the tarmac in a concerto of single overhead cam madness.

But it isn’t all Skylines and Zs. Smaller cars like the Sunny and Bluebirds have quite a following with little groups of owners representing the boxy Datsuns.

We also spotted a few A20 Celicas and TE27 Levins representing the Toyota camp.

These vintage drag meets at Sendai are a pleasantly refreshing look at a side of the Japanese car culture most seem to have forgotten. 

The event offers a unique opportunity to see heavily modified examples of Japanese manufacturer's past masterpieces being driven to their limit.

Needless to say, we will be back for more at the earliest opportunity.