“I prefer to start trends, rather than follow them.”
It's 12 minutes of quotable video fascination, but that might be my favourite extract from 'Mad Mike' Whiddett's latest clip for Red Bull. It's a quote that comes loaded; sounding humble to some and potentially arrogant to others. In some ways, a good little metaphor for Japanese car culture as a whole.
In New Zealand we're lucky (or unlucky, if you're of a differing view) to be relatively close to Japan, as a lot of their trends tend to find their way onto our streets and into our cars.
To many others however, a lot of these elements remain something of a mystery. And that's something this new clip aims to tackle; a brief explanation about the hows and the whys of concepts like Bosozoku, Dekotora, and Nihon exist. Where they came from, what they mean.
It's a great clip ... but perhaps is sullied a fraction by some of the no-doubt long and provocative quotes from the various owners and builders that get featured getting clipped down to a laughable extent in the dubbed translations.
But apart from that, it's a great clip. And a great lesson in the benefits of straying from convention.