In Melbourne, Australia there’s a veritable treasure trove of rare and desirable Japanese performance cars.
The collection’s curator, Allen Cheng, knows his way around JDM vehicles. As the founder of V-Spec Performance, a prominent tuner and vehicle trader in the Australian state of Victoria, Allen has built a successful business bringing enthusiast dreams to life, and along the way hasn’t forgotten to tick off his wish list of dream JDM machines.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when V-Spec’s doors were opened to me, but to say I was blown away would be a huge understatement.
Allen’s ever-evolving collection, meticulously assembled over many years, stands as a testament to his love for JDM culture. And each vehicle tells a story.
The first car I encountered was one I grew up driving in the virtual world. As far as tuned Honda S2000s go, it’s hard to beat an Amuse GT1.
In the early-1990s, HKS purchased several Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-Rs with the idea of turning them into something extraordinary – the Zero-R. Ten examples were rumoured to have been built – or at least planned to be built – but ultimately, a requirement to crash test the model saw HKS abandon the project.
Of the four Zero-Rs actually known to exist, one car was sold to the Sultan of Brunai, leaving three. Then, in the mid-2000s, those cars were further modified by HKS and, using a workaround, made road-legal in Japan. Allen picked this one up at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon’s BH Auction.
Kazuhiko ‘Smoky’ Nagata and his tuning company Top Secret need no introduction on Speedhunters. For decades, Smoky’s high-speed driving exploits – and huge burnouts – have shocked and excited, so there was no way Allen’s collection would be complete without a build from the legendary Chiba-based tuner.
The golden R35 GT-R would be special enough on its own, but there are so many iconic Japanese performance cars at V-Spec that it was hard to know where to look. Alongside it sat not one, but two Nissan 400Rs. Only 40 of these were ever made!
Amidst these legendary machines is another beast that demands attention – this 400R-esque AR1 (Nismo Red) R33 GT-R. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail and boasting V-Spec’s bespoke intake system, it’s a stunning machine.
Venturing into the workshop, I saw a new FL5 Honda Civic Type R undergoing a V-Spec demo car transformation. From the Amuse R1 Titan titanium exhaust to the Eventuri intake, every detail spoke to a new level of performance.
In Allen’s office the walls are adorned with everything from wheels to meticulously detailed car models. Among the latter was a scale replica of a Midnight Purple R34 GT-R Z-tune, mirroring Allen’s cherished 1:1 example.
When I visited, Allen’s stunning Z-tune was in storage, but my friend NK managed to photograph it at another time.
As a JDM enthusiast from China, I often long for iconic Japanese performance cars that aren’t readily available or even accessible in my home country. So to see so many of them in one place at V-Spec Performance was a dream come true for me.
Bruno Han
Instagram: panin1x
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