Not so Lost in Translation - Al's trip to Flat 4.

So there's some rather nice stuff parked outside. And something which looks like a bastardised Magenta Spartan or whatever it was those queer wee things were called. I ignore that, and concentrate instead on the very tasty cal-look oval parked up out front. But we'll come back to that later, for it's hiding some other, equally cool stuff. Like a miniature replica of Inch Pincher Too! Like three more ovals and a zwitter. For those not in the know, that's effectively an oval with a split back window and they were only made for something like the 11 weeks before the 10th of March, 1953.









This sign is not representative of the goodies inside:



This pic, though, is:



I wasn't sure what to expect inside; I certainly wasn't expecting to open a door to a spiral staircase with a splitty front panel staring me in the face, nor was I expecting split, oval and Porsche 356 dashes hanging off the walls.









The framed '60s Volkswagen, Porsche and Okrasa advertising was a safer bet. Getting to the top of the spiral staircase and opening the door I get a front-on view of the signwritten split bus I could see from the outside:



Little realising it had been converted into the singlemost coolest T-shirt rack in the entire world. You cannot successfully argue against that point:



I'm standing there awestruck with the SLR in my hand and the guy behind the counter smiles at me. I raise the worn-smooth Canon a touch and raise my eyebrows - the world-over-accepted gesture for 'can I take a picture?' and he grins wider and nods his head. Game on. A little of the place - perhaps a third, maybe only a quarter - is actual shop. The rest is the smallest but yet the most ordered and awe-inspiring museum I have ever visited. And the shop produce itself is impressive. Repro Abarth four tips? Check. Brand new type 1 motors with 48IDAs and 911 cooling fans? Check. Repro BRMs, Slot Mags, Fuchs, Empis, Rocket Racing Rims, Mahle Gas Burners et al? Check. Beetle Haynes books of lies in Japanese. Check.













But what about the real history, nevermind the exquisitely reproduced versions of it? Yeah, there's that. In the centre of the floor stand a '67 Formula Vee, an original Empi Imp and Darryll Vittone's grasstracker. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with Volkswagen and Porsche memorabilia. Wanna know how Beetle tail-lamps evolved over the years? Or their steering wheels? Perhaps you just want to ogle the programme from the original Bug-In? Maybe you'd like to understand a bit more about Beetle transaxles, and would love a look at a full-size cutaway. You're in luck.

Cheers, Norm. I've plenty more pics, but living in the sticks with 512k broadband means they're taking a while. Severely jet-lagged, though, so it's not like I'm doing anything else, really...

thats amazing, please make a map to this tokyo paradise

what a great shop! I think my shop needs a refit LOL

Pilgrimage indeed.

Glad you resisted.

now THAT'S exactly what i needed to see first thing today! what a great thread abbout your trip to Flat4, out of all the original EMPI stuff there, did they have any EMPI spyder mags in 14"? The type normally known a s the EMPI 8spoke, they were the original rough sand cast centre 2 piece wheel, made also for Datsuns too from 1968, with the screw on centre cap

Looks like you had an awesome holiday mate

Wow, what a compliment! Cheers, BB. Well, if Retro Cars want to run it with more pics, they can drop me a PM.
Didn't see any original Empi wheels. Except on something hidden under a cover out back. Like I said, curse word-bucket...
Seth - yes.
Robin - no idea. But they all had Flat 4 stickers on them. ;D

jealous ;D

what else did you go gawp at?

ginza?

did you pachinko