Dajiban

Last week Andy from Subcompact Culture sent me an email alerting me to something beyond awesome. I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking he sent me a link to Bill Cosby fighting the Witch from Narnia and then buying everyone Jell-o pudding cups. No, this is even more awesome than that (hard to believe I know). But it’s truly more awesome.

Andy sent me a link to a thread with a whole bunch of pics and info on a craze I had never seen before. It’s called Dajiban which basically means “Dodge Vans”. These things are absolutely fantastic. Cats in Japan are taking huge full sized Dodge Ram Vans and slamming them down and racing them. Yes, they are really doing this. And if they are not racing these things, they are just making them look damn good.

How badass are these things?! Answer: Extremely!

Yeah, those are RS Watanabes! Aren’t these vans some weird lug pattern? I wonder where they found the wheels for such a crazy lug pattern. My guess is re-drilled wheels.

I have always loved these vans, especially the later 90’s ones. They had a certain sense to them that I could never understand but they always drew me in. Not to mention that they seem somewhat rare around me. I see Ford and Chevy vans all day, but never really see these. I have been wanting one to bag forever.

WIN parade right there.

Told you they raced them. They hold events and everything to go out and have fun.

These guys are my kind of people.

Their interiors are just as cool.

Shoe horn some small block power in there, seems about right.

Carbon fiber cup holders, amazing.

This is my kind of interior, simple and has everything you need.

These cats are serious about their suspensions. I gotta find out more about the suspension.

A big part of this scene seems to be them finding old American stickers to put on their vans. They have all kinds of stuff from the days of Americana. It’s pretty damn cool.