Visiting A Tuning Show In Beijing In 2009

Back in the great days of 2009 there were regular tuning and dealer shows in the Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing. Naturally, I went to each and every one of them. These shows had a very local character and were great fun. These days the Agricultural isn’t used anymore for such low-key events and tuning shows have mostly moved to locations out of town. No matter! Things change. On the first photo a bizarre Spider Man-themed machine, with enclosed wheel arches and a very impressive paint job.

The interior was totally custom with the jet fighter wheel on the right side. It had lots of speakers, a screen, more speakers, and a small lever for the automatic gearbox.

So low it almost touches the ground. It is made to look like a mid-engine car but the engine was up front. It was difficult to establish where this car was based on but thanks to a comment by Kevin Huo we now know it is based on a Toyota Celica, and originally created by a Chinese student living in New Zealand. Thanks Kevin! You can read more here and here about the development of the first “Spider Car”.

A very cool RHD Honda NSX with Advan badging, likely inspired by the Advan-sponsored GT500 racing car. The body kit looks very racy but it was really a road car underneath.

Update: it is a bit more special and much more real than I thought. This Honda appears to be a genuine Spoon NSX-R GT, a homologation special developed to comply with the Super GT rules for racing. It was designed by the Japanse Honda specialist Spoon. Thanks to commenter Joe for pointing that out!

Spoon made a small series of these road-legal monsters, and not two were alike. This one looks most like it. The V6 engine was modified too, to around 400 horses in street-spec. Sadly, in China, RHD cars cannot be legally registered for road use. But sometimes, back then, one could see this kind of cars on empty stretches of road on the outskirts of Beijing. Today that seems near impossible, with trillions of cameras checking every road every second of every day.

Back then, the second generation Honda Fit was very popular in tuning circles. The Fit was made locally at Guangzhou-Honda and easy to modify. I heard the 1.3 liter engine could be tuned up to 250 horses! This yellow example has been lowered and fitted with a body kit and pretty matte gray wheels.

Another Fit painted in dark black with a heavily modified rear fender.

The Changan-Suzuki Swift was a relatively rare guest on tuning shows. The Swift’s engine was tuned up to 200 horses and it was fitted with gray wheels with cool red brake calipers. My then-girlfriend and now-wife had a Swift too, but with the standard 92 hp engine (:

A pretty Mitsuoka Galue-II, a mad Japanese sedan based on the Nissan Cedric Y34. Mitsuoka’s were sold in small numbers in China since about 2003. In 2012 Mitsuoka entered the Chinese market officially, but they left  in 2016 after disappointing sales.

Funnily, the Galue-II was basically standard. You don’t need to modify a Mitsuoka, it is mad enough as it is. Only modifications I could see were a glittered grille, new alloys, and a load of glitter inside, including a glittered tissue box.

Race car! A Subaru Impreza with a stripped-out interior and slicks. This one was used for races on Beijing’s Golden Port race track. Owner said it had 450 horses. Strangely, the mirrors are road-standard, but the rear wing is certainly not!

This Subaru was a star of the show. Tall guy in purple shirt was the owner.  Very extreme body kit, makes the car at least 50 centimeters wider. Bonnet with air vents and air intakes. Flame-decals above the yellow lights are fantastic.

Joe to the rescue again! After 20 years of checking Chinese cars my knowledge of Japanese race cars is a bit rusty (: This black Subaru is actually a real Japanese Super GT GT300 Cusco Dunlop Subaru Impreza race car. And this very car, with start number 77, competed in the GT300 championship in 2007. Subaru tuner/race company Cusco still has it on its website today. Not sure how it ended up in China exactly. I know there are quite some Chinese collectors crazy about Japanese cars, who pay lots of money for rare JDM road and race cars, and our purple shirt man was probably one of them.  I will post many more images later on!

An nicely modified Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. It gets a new front, wide wheel arches, lots of yellow detailing, a matte black wrap, and some glitter stuff inside. Wheels are surprisingly small but the yellow stripe and calipers are sweet.

A sweet little lady on a Volkswagen Golf. She was from Xinjiang. Back then, Xinjiang models were very popular for auto shows because they are generally taller than Chinese girls, and their ‘mixed look’ was considered very hot. These days, due to all sorts of internal political reasons, Xinjiang models have largely vanished from auto shows.

Outside was a company that modified Beijing-Jeep cars. I love Beijing-Jeeps. I had one myself. The white one is a BJ2020 four-door hardtop, modestly modified with an external exhaust system, a roof rack, and an extra set of lights.

No modesty here! Another BJ2020, this one the two-door soft top version, with heavy modifications. It was quite a famous car. It came with off-road suspension, lots of extra lights, a classic lion-shaped door handle on the grille, an external exhaust system again, and a full roll cage.

A Beijing-Jeep Cherokee 2500 with a lot of stuff on it. I very much liked the working horn on the bonnet. It was extremely loud! Like a ship’s horn. There are more horns on the roof, accompanied by a police-style camera unit. The wide wheels and shiny alloys fit well with the Cherokee. The front is dressed up with an oversized bull bar with a freaky head in the middle.

More local Beijing auto shows soon!