All Japan Day

  

Travelling can be rewarding yet surprising all at once.

At a recent stopover in Glenelg, South Australia, we were woken early by the sound of heavy engines streaming past our hotel on a glorious Sunday morning. When we were finally ready to get out of the door and crossed the road in front of our hotel, we found Wigley Reserve covered in an enormous fleet of sporty looking cars.

Sleek wheel rims on the manicured lawn at Wigley Reserve

Wondering through the neat rows of glistening car bodies, aerodynamic wings and shiny wheel rims, it slowly dawned on us that all of the cars were of Japanese origin. Not a Holden or Ford in sight.

In my estimations there must have been around five hundred cars on display, with a great turnout by the public.

It got busy!

Bright colours at a sparkling event

Japanese cars are sleek, well built and have a great reputation. Between all the Nissan Evolutions, Skylines, Honda's and hell... even an occasional Datsun, my attention soon changed to what was happening around the cars. Many owners were mingling amongst each other - in deep discussion about the nuts and bolts of these Nippon wonders – networking in turbo setting.

A Honda N360, 1970 in good nick - what a place to put your spare!!

I found there were a lot of cool-looking bearded men, almost Amish-like, strolling around with many stylish chicks donning coloured hair and tattoos. To counter-balance these modern hipsters, along came the families with kids in prams who were all having a great time looking at the bling on wheels. Around the edges of the automobile exhibition many visitors had taken the opportunity to sit on the grass, relax and have a picnic.

The atmosphere was sublime. We stopped to chat to the owner of a Toyota Crown station wagon. A huge, sad looking dog sat in the car looking out of the rear window. We were told the dog had been feeling unwell for a couple of days. After letting the dog out of the car, both owner and dog soon became the centre of attention of a group of people patting the dog and offering suggestions as to how to cure the depressed pooch.

Organisers noted the huge success of “All Japan Day” by the rate the stands ran out of food and emergency trips had to be made to the shops to resupply the vast, continuous stream of people.

Noted on their website it states that: "All Japan Day donates all profits to charity. Previous recipients include, Surf Life Saving SA, Animal Welfare League, CFS Foundation, Kick Start for Kids, Novita and Scleroderma Australia"




All Japan Day. Not just about great cars.

Grey Bits

All Japan Day is usually organised every February at Wigley Reserve, Glenelg, South Australia. Check out this website for their next show:

http://alljapanday.com.au/

or check out their FB page at:

https://www.facebook.com/AllJapanDay/

Some of the rides on show