Photography by Hiro Murata / Tokyonür
In an effort to bring our readers a broader range of content on a more consistent basis, we tapped into one of our overseas photography contacts: Hiro Murata, who you’ve no doubt seen across the web as Tokyonür.
Murata recently attended the 32nd Annual Mooneyes Street Car Nationals in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan. The event was filled with every type of vehicle, from vintage Japanese cars and American muscle cars, to hot rods, trucks and everything in between—even the Tokyonür Honda Element!
Those familiar with Mooneyes will know all about its history. For the uninitiated, Californian Dean Moon founded the company in 1950 to improve the safety of speed and racing. He was a hot rodder, racer, and innovator who designed numerous aftermarket parts. The products carrying his name quickly grew in popularity, and are still sought after today. With such demand for the product after Moon passed away in 1987, family friend—and longtime Moon Japan dealer—Shige Suganuma relaunched the Mooneyes name in the early ‘90s.
32 years later, the Mooneyes faithful inhabited the Tokyo Aomi Parking Area in Odaiba. The event gathered more than 1,200 cars, 145 swap meet vendors, and 20 pinstripers into a parking lot around the corner from the famous Unicorn Gundam statue at the Diver City entertainment complex.
Rather than walk you through everything you need to know about the event and all of its inhabitants, we just wanted to leave a gallery to look through. Enjoy the 2018 Mooneyes Street Car Nationals in Japan, and then get back to work!