Man, what a trip...
(pun totally intended)So I landed in LA from Japan about two weeks ago, and after spending some time and money with a bunch of old friends, I left for Colorado. Recently, my job back in Japan started to expand into the export scene, and sent me back to America to setup shop in Colorado for their main import hub. Using new loopholes in local import ruling, we're able to get a lot more cars legally registered here in Colorado than any other state in the US. It's my job to run the receiving end of the business; getting the imported vehicles cleared for local registration and running a warehouse dealership operation not unlike
Import Monster or
PowerVehilces back in Japan.
But work aside, it's been an emotional ride. Saying goodbye to my friends in Japan, and hello again to my old friends in Cali has been a little rough on me emotionally, and it sorta has a weird effect on your mind. You feel like you're going back in time, almost. I dunno, maybe that's just the road talking.
I was originally planning to buy a cheap daily in California and drive it out to Colorado, but I blew that budget on a box of shit 240 and then sold it off for peanuts. Eh, it's better this way. I decided renting was the best course of action, as it'd be a pretty long trip and I'd rather have 24-hour roadside and a comfortable, reliable car instead of an oil-burning timebomb 240 with a welded diff and a fixed-back racing bucket. I hit up a Hertz in LA and got my hands on a nice 2013 Focus ST. Always wanted to try one of these out, being a Focus owner a few times over. Pretty nice car. Comfy, roomy, and heaps of fun. Overtaking in this thing is a blast.
Coming off the highway, I headed into Carson to drop the car off at the local Hertz. The closer I got, the thicker the saturation of insane cars that blew past me. As I was pulling into Carson, this showoff in a Viper bombed past me and into on-coming traffic, just to tear off into the ever-falling night. Scared the piss outta me, almost literally as I had hardly stopped in an attempt to make it to Hertz before they closed - small town meant it didn't have 24-hour drop-off.
GPS went goofy on me, and I ended up getting lost and not making it. Ugh. Oh well, I still had the car for another 24 hours, so I pulled into a Burger Barn for dinner and a piss before finding a vacant lot and just parking for the night. I was beat and couldn't be assed to mess with the GPS and find a hotel, so I just slept in the car. A few hours later, the warm sunlight rousted me awake and I immediately got the car back to Hertz. After dropping it off, I used the remaining deposit for a free cab ride to the warehouse district, where Tupas had stored my FRS for me. He had locked it in a shipping container, and mailed me the padlock and car keys in LA. The cab dropped me and my bags in a large lot of random containers, and I did my best to find mine from the cellphone pics he had sent me. It didn't take more than ten minutes, and I had my new daily.
I rolled her out
(Tupas left the driver's window down so I could reach in and put it in neutral since I couldn't open the doors from inside the container) and just stood back in awe. This thing was absolutely stunning. I couldn't believe I owned one, after trying so hard to get an FT86 back in Japan. The significance of this car is monumental - it was the joining of two major players in the Japanese auto market to reinvent the rear-wheel-drive blue-collar sports coupe that had become such a rarity in today's market - and it was a practical challenge to their competitors to do the same. I won't lie, I cried as I slid into the driver's seat and turned the key. Maybe it was a combination of the events of the last few weeks, or maybe it was just a religious experience - but I felt so at peace in that cockpit. For a moment I wondered how Tupas could part with such a machine, but I remembered it was so he could get the Subaru counterpart, the BRZ.
I collected myself, and indulged in an important part of any LA resident's life - a run to the donut shop. And boy, is Carson filthy with them!
After some coffee and a donut or six, I decided to head over to the warehouse where I'd be working, just to get an idea where it is. I was not prepared for how massive this operation was going to be. It was a gigantic, empty building - but it would soon be filled to capacity with all manner of vehicles straight from Japan. For the second time since I woke up, I felt utterly blown away.
It wasn't long before all that emotion bundled up in my throat and I barfed all over the sidewalk.
I decided to call Louis and catch up. I hit the road again and headed to Redfoot Ranch. He never told me that he lived in an area that was basically a goddamned rally stage. It was an...
experience in a lowered car with stiff coilovers. I made a mental note to soften them up later since it was on daily duty for the moment. We did the usual dudebro thing and chilled with some brewskis and looked at
Penthouse and pointed at eachother's cars and made wanking gestures. I was far too burned out to drive for a few days, so we just chilled at his place and I had him show me around Colorado. The Horizon Festival had attracted a huuuuge motorsports scene, and with so many new faces in town, local habitats were on the cheap trying to get people to stay. So I thanked Louis for his hospitality by farting on the bonnet of his Mustang and had him follow me in the FRS to my new apartment in Carson, not far from my job.
I have a feeling things are only going to get more and more interesting in the coming months. Whatever happens, it feels oddly comfortable to be back in the States.