We didn’t know what to expect going into the TAS this year. Almost every car maker has reported negative growth and losses in 2008. As the first show of 2009, would the TAS give us a glimpse of what 2009 would be like? Would it be dark and gloomy without any of the glamour?

There was really nothing to worry about because TAS kicked off the year with another great display of tuned cars. So some of the big players were gone and maybe there were a fewer race queens at the booths. But any decent company should tone down their booth in this economy and heck less girls made it strolling about the hall easier with fewer camera kids (aka stalkers) hounding the girls. At least that’s how I tried to convince myself that the show was better without the girls…(sigh…)

The big booth space by the entrance originally occupied by Veilside was taken over by HKS last year. When HKS pulled out this year, to save costs, the space became a lounging area. Audio maker Eclipse canceled right before the show and Trust/Greddy filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and obviously was a no show.

The TAS organizers from Sanei announced that 230, 000 people visited this year’s show compared to the 250,000 visitors from last year. By combining the show with the "Import Auto Salon", which took place in the annex hall across the street from the main hall at Makuhari Messe, they reported that the overall exhibitors, cars and booths increased in numbers compared to 2008.

While Honda rolled out a fairly large yet tuner conservative lineup for this year's Tokyo Auto Salon, in-house tuner Mugen decided go the other direction to produce a small yet very tuner-enhanced lineup for the show. The most noteworthy of that bunch was the Mugen NSX-RR Concept, which appeared at the show sporting a Super GT-esque aero kit that blew show goers away. Although the concept appeared at the show without an engine to be found, that still didn't take away from the amazing aero that Mugen came up with for this show. The performance mods and proposed power output for the NSX-RR Concept is currently shrouded in mystery.



Mugen NSX RR

Another stealth but equally crazy NSX is this left hand drive NSX-R from Spoon Sports. We reported earlier that Spoon was planning on building a left hand drive Type R for the US market but this was the first time anyone had actually seen it.



Spoon NSX Left Hand Drive



Spoon TAS2009 Promo Video - Macau GP


Ultimate Tint Job at Tokyo Auto Salon 2009

Last year’s show was all about the R35 GT-R. This year Nissan announced the SpecV days before the TAS but the SpecV was no where to be found. We guessed Nissan’s official stance is still to keep the R35 away from the "tuner" market. Although we do believe that this tuner market is driving the popularity of the GT-R and in these times no maker can afford to try to divide a small pie of the enthusiast market by tuners and non-tuners.

"The TAS has always been the show where we announce our latest projects and products" said Michizo Niikura, president of Mine's.

Mine's was one of the early tuners to come out with a full range of products for the recently released Nissan 370Z.

"This show is not only about domestic sales but also where we get to meet many of our international clients" he followed, hinting that the R35 and 370Z applications are a hot item overseas.