R.i.p. Hideki Tanabe- Powerhouse Amuse

I do not know what is going on these days, but it seems that many people are passing away. Today I just found out that one of the top automotive tuners and shop owner in Japan, Hideki Tanabe, founder, owner and driver of Powerhouse Amuse/ Ericsson, passed away from illness. To me this man is one of the top few tuners in the world who has done the unthinkable. First off, designing the Hi-Tech Rom ECU, designing and creating many high quality carbon fiber products, and also known for his Titanium products such as exhaust systems. Some of his famous project/shop cars are the R1 Titan R34, which the whole body was constructed in carbon fiber except for the roof; and the R1 Titan GT1 S2000, which was known for his debut of the GT1 widebody kit. This is a man who definitely understands and displays true passion for tuning, and presents many of his skills through the designs and quality of his products. His attention to detail in tuning and designing have been displayed through many races and other events with no doubt, and I see him as one out of very few people out there who knows what the true essence of tuning is all about.

Thats My Boy!

Well, my favorite driver/main man Manabu Orido has done it again in the Bandoh Racing/ Wedsport IS in GT300, I believe this is his 3rd podium stand, and 2nd first place out of the 3. What else is there to say, he is just a great driver who has so much potential that grows more and more stronger each time he drives. This is a man who is a true driver and a passionate person when it comes to the automotive industry. Congrates Orido!!!

Greddy/Trust: Bankrupt.

Greddy, also known in Japan as Trust Industries is found to be bankrupt. It doesnt make sense to me because they seem to be selling well in the U.S. and Japan, for example their exhausts and turbo charger kits, and they have a D1 Spec S15 driven by Masato Kawabata. Also one of the largest Tuning shops in Japan, RE Amemiya, who specializes in rotary's, mainly Mazdas, are also sponsored by Trust and have been using their products for many years, and their D1 Spec Mazda FD3S RX-7 driven by Masao Suenaga is one of the top 10 drivers. Hopefully this ends up in a positive case, with nothing leading to the company coming to an end. Trust has been around since the mid 1970's, and Greddy came to the picture in the U.S. market in 1994, and during those times were when gross sales were going up, and now it is going down, down to almost $60million debt. Good luck to them, hopefully they get back on their feet and keep the import tuning industry strong, because they played a big roll in bringing it up, especially in the U.S.