Mid-00's Irish car scene

French Toast

I recently saw this album from 2004 shared on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.213611852011236&type=3&sfnsn=mo

Massive body kits, flipped metallic paint, boots full of audio gear, even Lambo doors. A real throwback to when the Celtic Tiger was roaring.

hoodie6029

Fairly sure that Flamey PT Cruiser was on DoneDeal recently! There can’t be more than one of them.

Cheers for sharing that, a real throwback. I’m sure a lot of these are lurking in the back of garages all over the country and will reemerge some day.

Eoinbmw

For my sins I was big into the scene great times if a bit cringe to look back at lol

French Toast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120504430#Comment_120504430

It was a great time to be in to cars. As a 1st year in 2006 I remember lads in Leaving Cert driving to school in a Glanza V, a Saxo VTR and plenty more slower but still cool motors. Not a diesel in sight.

goochy

When I saw the heading I thought ' what could be so different back then to now ? '

But now I remember going to shows were guys had spend fortunes on normal cars and then they would sell for next to nothing

teediddlyeye

I was starting second year at that time. Remember seeing those cars around alright.

Glad I missed that era before I started driving to be perfectly honest 🤢

harmless

I know there was some cross over but was this scene from 2004 just before the Jap import scene took off?

Low powered petrol hatchbacks from Euro car makers, wide arch body kits and mods that mostly made the car slower and more difficult to sell.

There was one car in particular in my town, a silver and orange Punto with a massive body kit. It looked like a clown car but there was probably €10k spent on it.

French Toast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120507279#Comment_120507279

Interestingly, Tokyo Drift came out in 2006 which definitely introduced JDM stuff to those who maybe weren't aware of it.

People used to love whacking massive kits and wheels on Peugeot 206s for some reason.

harmless

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120508317#Comment_120508317

Infulenced by Max Power Magazine I guess.

Mech1

Ahh much too recent for me, somebody find same type of post filled with mk1 & 2 escorts, mantas, kadettets, xr2's & 3's Cosworth lotus etc. And my own fiat uno turbo!

That might get my mouth salivating!

wotzgoingon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120507279#Comment_120507279

We were importing cars from Japan well before 2004.

Oops!

The place was full of Jap imports in the late 90's when i started out in the trade.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120513599#Comment_120513599

This. Personally I'd put the JDM era(as far as imports go) from around 96-06*. The Max Power custom era overlapped it from the mid 90's but was running out of steam by 00, in the sense that people went from going nuts on European iron to going nuts on JDM stuff. We went from Max Power to Fast and Furious.

And looking back it's easy to see why. JDM was exotic, far better made and far better specced for the most part and suddenly cheap. You can see that in the 04 Facebook link. It's mostly JDM. The same kinda show from say 97 would have been mostly Euro hot hatches cooked to a crisp. I knew guys in both scenes so went to a few shows with them here and in the UK. I knew some who went from Euro to JDM and what I noticed at the time was how going JDM cost a lot more in third party parts. Though to be fair the quality of the Jap stuff was higher.

*pre the mid 90's it was more Cars & Car Conversions era with Fords, lots of Fords, with twin webers and bockety running cams with profiles like razors and anything over 200 brake was insaniac teritory. The Cossie had 220 BHP. Oh. My. God. An uninsurable ram raiding joyriding death machine apparently. Though here in Ireland anyway it was a much smaller scene.

10-10-20

Timely mention a forum which I think a number on here were members of: Octane.ie.

https://web.archive.org/web/20081010053146/http%3A//www.octane.ie/forum/index.php

Eoinbmw

I bought my first Jdm in 1999 and there was already a huge scene in Limeick at the time!

Fast and the furious was a big influence in the early 00s I remember graphics were everywhere along with massive kits!

French Toast

Bumping this.

A lot of Japanese imports seem to have Cork regs. Who was busy down there importing them in the mid-noughties?

McGrath5

I remember this stuff, lads up to the gills in personal debt doing up their Civics and Puntos with ridiculous colors and lambo doors.

I lived in the Dublin mountains around that time and every weekend they would drive around like maniacs, you would hear them well before you see them. There was a bend that unless you knew the area would easily catch you out, they would end up in a neighbors front garden having taking a fence out with them. I never understood why they would spend a fortune on these things and trash them around.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121289796#Comment_121289796

What was the saying: 5 grand for the car, 5 grand for the body-kit and 5 grand for insurance...?