Hey!

 

I know it has been close to 3 months since the last post, and I want to assure you guys that this blog will come back! Once I am done with my final exams in school :D Juggling work and school has been insane for me, and I simply have no time to update this blog! However, we have been busy, and here is just a small snippet of what we have in store for you guys come May!

I have changed one Silvia for another.

We’ve been busy with some shoots!

And we’ve been attending car meet ups!

Anyway, stay tuned once May comes! We’ve got SHITLOADS of content!

- Brendan

Remember how I’m always going on about Group B rallying being the ultimate test between man and machine?

Here’s a video tribute to then men and machines of a forgone era, spectacular and legendary. the one scene with the car drifting a hairpin and spectators jumping to avoid the car in slow motion is simply epic. I wish I were there. ):

- Brendan

As 2010 draws to a close and we begin the new year, we look back at the things we’ve done and look forward to an even better 2011.

Many things have happened this year, and it would be impossible to sum up our experiences, coming for photoshoots, car gatherings, meeting new people, talking, discovering so many new things! We even started our own car showcase event, the first of its kind, with many more to follow.

Even our cars have seen so many changes. Stickers here, lowering kit there. But we love them all the same!

We’ve shown you that car lovers in Singapore and the region don’t care if their cars are dual-purpose daily drivers turned night-time road weapons…

 

or nimble ballet dancing drift machines,

awesome grip monsters,

or completely focused time attack weapons! The amount of careful attention and love given to these cars is immense and really inspiring. It goes to show that we are definitely comparable to the boys in the US or Europe!

We’ve had the best of European style customization: slick, clean and oozing effortless cool…

as well as Japanese tuner philosophies – bold, brazen, unabashed and bristling with strength like a shogun warrior.

We’ve had our very own car showcase exhibition, where car lovers could gather and take lovely photos,

and we’ve attended car gatherings both big…

and small!

We’ve shed some light on some well-deserved automotive underdogs

And honored some automotive icons passed

Who knows what we’ll do this year? One thing is for sure, we are going places, so you definitely should watch this space! But in the meantime, we thank you all for following us thus far, and have a great 2011!

- CRANK.SG

We’re still doing test shoots! For your visual pleasure:

This could be your car!

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Come visit us!

Amk Ave 5, Northstar Building 06-15! See you soon!

- Jay

SHOP >>> ODE TO STUDIO

Posted: 20/12/2010 by jayjoel in Car Art, Events, Photography

Its open!

While we are busy doing test shoots this week and the next, you guys are welcome to drop by.

Photographers are also welcome to use our space to do shoots at an promotional super affordable and dirt cheap rate (including lights rental, for a promo period only!). Drop an email to Jay at jayjoel@j-imogen.com.sg or text 9766 5057.

Corporate clients: if you are interested to use our services, please drop Jay an email at jayjoel@j-imogen.com.sg or find out more at www.j-imogen.com.sg

Walk in customers, if you would like to have your car shot, please hold your horses as we are still doing testing. To find out more, log on to www.j-imogen.com.sg or email Jay at jayjoel@j-imogen.com.sg.

We are located at AMK Ave 5, North Star Building, unit number 06-15.

Here are a couple of preview shots. This could be a photo of your car! (:

Cheers!

- Jay

 

 

The Mettle Games 2010 was Singapore’s first attempt at an action sports extravaganza. The event took place over the course of two weekends at various locations all over the island, and involved all sorts of extreme sports, like wakeboarding, aggressive inline, skateboard and mixed martial arts. There were also spectacular spectator attractions  like a drift exhibition and 200m drag race (which we will focus on).

Over the span of three days, the F1 pt building and Turn 1 were converted into playgrounds for drag and drift. Today, we focus on the sliding and save the gripping launches for the next instalment. The drift exhibition was just that – an exciting showcase of the skill and excellent technique required to do well in the sport. Various drift teams were sent in by companies like Liqui Moly and Stamford Tyres, coupled with the ten drifters selected from the D Experience 102 event earlier this year.

Needless to say, the event was heart-pounding as drifters continuously tsuiso-ed and ran close to each other. They stuck close to the barriers entering their drifts, and gave spectators much to scream about. Sadly, bad management saw a lack of attendees to the event altogether, so at many a time the boys were shredding their tyres to a small crowd. Nonetheless, they performed with gusto and showmanship!

Besides our local drifters, there were also many drifters that came from overseas to take part in the action. Here, Formula Drift Asia driver Wong Ah Fai seriously lights up his 180SX! He was definitely pushing the envelope with his drifting, initiating WAYYY earlier than everyone else and drifting the wheels off the car!

Formula Drift USA pro Ryuji Miki was also on hand in a Mk IV Supra! The 2004 US D1GP champion was working in collaboration with SPARK Motorsports and kindly showed Singapore a huge dose of his talent. When he and Ivan went out on track, it was like ballet on wheels! They crissed and crossed each others’ paths and made no contact at all! Later on, they also offered taxi rides for passengers so they could experience drifting first-hand from the passenger seat.

He ended his sessions with some impressive tyre wasting on Sunday!

So in essence, the Mettle Games was a fine showing by our local boys, marred only by poor event management and marketing. We hope next year it gets better!

Watch out for the drag racing next!

- Brendan

Think of classic Volvos and one thing comes to mind: Square brick. :D The 240 and subsequent models up to the S80 all resembled lego bricks on wheels! Despite Volvo’s rock-solid build quality and cocoon-standard safety, design was simply not up to standard. They looked as though they used rulers to design the car!

With their undisputed reputation for safety and quality builds, they were a prime choice for soccer mums and family men. Given this long-standing reputation, you’d never think that Volvo would bother with motorsports. Few people know, however, that Volvos have been involved in motorsports since the mid-eighties.

Volvo first campaigned the 240 (the first photo) in the British Touring Car Championship. This car was, well, unsuccessful, but the next car they used was a bit more successful, and heaps more controversial.

Isn’t this photo epic! A soccer mum wagon, race prepped and on two wheels through a corner! Also prepared by TWR, the 850 estate was campaigned in 1994 and finished fairly good, with a top result of fifth and a top qualifying result of third during the series. It featured a highly strung 2.0 litre 5-cylinder engine that put out more than 280bhp with a redline at a screaming 8500rpm.

The fully lightened car also ran full slicks on magnesium OZ racing wheels, with sophisticated coilover suspension all around and a Volvo delta-link set up at the rear.

In 1995, BTCC regulations outlawed aerodynamic modifications, effectively ending the competitiveness of the 850 estate. From here on TWR campaigned the 850 sedan. It won five races piloted by Rickard Rydell and Tim Harvey, and was considered highly successful. Still, the 850 estate remains one of the most controversial yet loved cars to ever compete on the BTCC circuit.

- Brendan

 

The late, great Tom Wilkinshaw has just passed away at the age of 64 from complications arising from lung cancer. The Scotsman was best known for founding his racing outfit Tom Wilkinshaw Racing (TWR), and campaigned in various series such as BTCC, Le Mans and various GT series since the 1970s. Under his guidance, F1 protege Ross Brawn was elevated to fame.

Here he is with one of his most famous modified creations: the Jaguar XJR-15. Based on the 1988 Le Mans winning XJR9, the XJR-15 featured a carbon fibre body, a 450bhp 6.0L V12 and executed the century sprint in a mere 3.9 seconds.

Here’s a video of what he does best: flogging racing cars to within an inch of their lives.

Godspeed.

- Brendan

 

Back in the day, AMG and Mercedes were two separate entities. Founded in 1967 under the name AMG Motorenbau und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, the German tuning firm was named after its two founders, Hans-Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher. The G stood for Aufrecht’s birthplace – Grossapach. Based between Burgstall and Affalterbach, the tuner (unofficially) specialized in proliferating Mercedes benz road cars. In 1986, they made a car that would possibly define the AMG-Mercedes collabo to this day.

Today, we know AMG as the company that builds vulgar and unrepentant go-faster versions of Mercedes Benzes, capable of moving Earth with their monster engines. Before AMGs were the sledgehammers that we know them famous for now, they had a car called the Hammer.

The year was 1986, and the Hammer was a W124 chassis Mercedes Benz 300E that came stock with a 177bhp 3.0L six. The hooligans at AMG would then give owners two options (if they were willing): They could shoehorn the 560SEC’s 5.5L V8 engine into the cramped engine bay, add 32-valve cylinder heads (factory units came with three valves per cylinder) AND dual overhead cams – good for 360bhp – or they could bore out the 5.5L V8 to a full-on 6.0L, which was rated at a stonking 375bhp.

It was only available in black, and had AMG penta 5-spoke blacked out wheels. Add to that a mean bodykit with a blacked-out grille, chin spoilers, side skirts and a ducktail boot spoiler, and the Hammer would make any road a highway to hell. During the time, the equivalent M5 of the era, the E28, only put out 278bhp, a full 100bhp short. In 1986 it was Ferrari GTO performance in a shell that would suit Tony Soprano’s company image, and in its class, it blew everything away.

The car could also be bought with an AMG suspension, a different and more sophisticated rear differential, a Gleason-Torsen LSD, a stronger rear sub frame to cope with the added power and a host of other chassis mods to keep the car planted to the ground. Alas, the price of this glory was not cheap, as full options would bring the bill up to a cool US$161k. In 1986!

The Hammer – unabashed, unapologetic and completely vulgar. We know that AMG makes brutish cars, but before they were brutes,

-

they were brutes.

- Brendan

Please tolerate my complaints about the car recycling system in Singapore again while I fawn over the huge variety of cars old and new at the Zerotohundred TimetoAttack Sepang event. :(

Here’s a soon-to-be classic: The Evo VII GT-A in absolutely MINT condition. The GT-A was a special edition Evo built in 2003 as a last hurrah for the Seven. It featured, most surprisingly, an automatic transmission with fuzzy logic that would learn the driver’s driving characteristics and adjust shift points accordingly. It also had a more luxurious velour or leather interior and some chrome bits, as well as a smaller spoiler (evidently this example chose the option to go for the full on big wing).

Another unicorn on our roads – the Mk IV Supra. Last I heard, there is only one road legal example left! ): With its brutish 3.0L twin-turboed straight six, the Supra was a hooning favourite, not to mention a spectacular drift and drag machine. All hail the 2JZ. :D

The ZTH event was almost like a collection of all my dream cars, gathered together to rub dirt in my face for living in a country that detests old cars. I need to relocate, LIKE NOW. ): In any case, here’s the sexy FD3S RX-7. Looks like a post 1999 model because of the new side indicator clusters, so I’m guessing… Spirit R? Either way, it was in a fantastic condition.

Yum. This Evo VI doesn’t look half as imposing as our violent friend, but it looks fantastic. The Evo VI is already a rather in-your-face piece of design, so I guess more effort was required to get this car to look the way it does – almost… sleek! Haha!

Where there is an old Evo, there must also be an old WRX STi. I remember these two going head to head on the world rally stage: the EVO WRC and the two-door STi 22B. Fantastic stuff for a boy growing up. I was always a Subaru supporter, so naturally I was happy to see GCs represent at the event. There were a couple, but this example looked like it came out of the factory yesterday. SSR wheels, lowered and tough. I also remember WRXes back in the day had SUPER LONG names: like “Subaru Impreza WRX STi Version VI Type R (A)” or something. This is my Gran Turismo fanboy talking. :D

I like this version of the DC5. The facelifted version had ugly front and rear lights. This one was a bit more simple; a bit less try-hard. DC5s, together with FD2Rs, dominated the NA class during the day’s proceedings. Speaks volumes about Honda’s FF platform mastery, and their wonderful engines. Classic.

Familiar face! Kelvin’s Ascendant Motorsport Evo X has been stripped of all decals, and it looks absolutely brilliant. Loving the GT30 wheels, proper fitment and ZERO ride height. Yum.

Euro cars also represented in their numbers, with numerous supercars, lightweight flyers and various VWs. Is this a Caractere Bodykit for the Roc? Someone enlighten me on this, the slats on the front air intake are very reminiscent of their style!

The people from Eurohaus were there to take part in the HPD trackday, and came with their best representatives. Sleek looking Scirocco! Not much needs to be done to this car, it already looks sexy as hell out of the factory. I must say, though, that small wheels look weird on the Roc. It really does need bigger wheels and a slam to look properly pretty. :D

There you go! The Zerotohundred TimetoAttack Sepang covered! Next, watch out for Mettle Games!

- Brendan