Rocket Bunny - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed

(upbeat music) - I'm back, up to date. This is a 2010 Tuner car and this is a 2020 Wider Tuner car, what happened? Well, Rocket Bunny happened. That's what (bleeps) happened. Buuny

rocket

rocket

. ♪ Bounce with Rocket Bunny ♪ Two words, Rocket Bunny. - It seemed crazy. - People take videos of me and say: Hey, this is your car from the back, I mean, damn. That looks very bad. - Rocket, two words, Rocket Bunny. - Rocket Bunny. - Rocket Bunny. (speaking in foreign language) - So what is Rocket Bunny? Where did it come from and why did it have such a big impact?

Well, that's what I've spent the last two months trying to figure out. I talked to some of the guys very close to this. I spoke with the mirror son himself. It's been too long. I have missed them very much. I missed this damn store. I miss whatever's going on back here. This is

everything

you

need

to

know

to catch up on Rocket Bunny. We are back. (upbeat music) A big thank you to carparts.com for sponsoring this monumental rocket-powered season premiere of Up To Speed. And since this is such a big episode, we wanted to get a special sponsor.

Like our [email protected]. Clumsy Carl, what are you doing? - Tee tee, collision alert. (Carl screaming) Okay, cousin, you had a spider in your car. It was reckless on Brown's part, I understood. Don't worry. - No, we all have a friend who always finds some way to break something in your car. For us, he is our new intern, my cousin Clumsy Carl. And with a friend like clumsy Carl, spare parts can really add up. That's why I trust carparts.com. - It's okay, it's just a windshield wiper. - They are your one-stop shop for collision parts, repair and maintenance.

Who says you have to sacrifice quality for a reasonable price? There is a smart and easy way to get what you want when you want it. It doesn't matter what you drive. So if you

need

a new headlight, side mirror, side molding or grill. - What's wrong with the bumper? - Why would I need a new one? - I'm sorry. - Even if you need a new bumper, carparts.com has you covered. Get your car running great today, visit carparts.com. And now back to the show. - Hey, you're almost done. You told me you would take me to Harry Potter. - I have wanted to make this video for a long time.

The first time I saw a Rocket Bunny car was in a Speed ​​Hunters article and they were profiling Muris in the shop and there was this white S 13 Sylvia parked out front and it had four sixes on the side and Good Year stickers all over it . Those stickers combined with the box fenders and the little duck pickup. The spoiler on the back somehow made one of the more Japanese cars look like a damn NASCAR. I loved. (upbeat music) - I have always loved NASCAR and cars from the 80's. I didn't intend for the kit to look like those cars.

It just happened. It was not initially accepted in the Japanese market, but then Americans loved it. - Whether you're a Rocket Bunny fan or not, you can't deny his impact on car culture. As? (brilliant music) We begin our journey where every great story begins. A high room off the ring road. This is the Kanjo loop. It is the outer belt of the curved highway that surrounds the city of Osaka, Japan. And it's right up there with the Autobahn for places to drive stupid fast, except unlike the Autobahn, stupid

speed

on the circuit is very, very illegal.

And I just want to say that, for one country, they've given us a lot of cool cars and underwear from a vending machine. Japan is quite strict. So naturally, the Kanjo loop was the territory of a particular set of charges. The Bosozoku. - The Bosozoku. The Bosozoku. The Bosozoku. - These guys carried a loose collection of sticks. They wore overalls. Their hair was dyed bright colors. It's like hell's angels are very, very, very Japanese. And, in the words of the Bosozoku, they were rebelling against a culture that rewarded restraint and restraint. They were trying to make noise.

They wanted to make a scene. I can relate. That might explain why they drove cars like this and this and this and right in the middle of it was a guy named Kei Miura. Great blonde perm and

everything

. - It comes from an old school street racing scene, where everything is super closed. Everything is wild. Old school, JDM style three racer mosozoku. -He had skipped the toll at Kanjo Loop by sneaking through the gate behind other cars, he took off his license plate and wore a damn Jason Vorhees mask to avoid being caught on camera. You

know

, regular things you do when you obey the law.

But in 1988, this punk would begin a path to automotive greatness. (upbeat music) Miura's son had just turned 18 years old. He was driving down the street in Kyoto when something suddenly caught his attention. - At that time I was in a truck on a transporter. And when I stopped by a nearby car shop I found a cool Datsun. And I wanted it. -Hey man, I would like to buy that sunny one. - No. - And what's the problem, man? Its not for sale? - Not for you. You're a punk. - That? - Look at your hair, you're obviously up to no good. - And the owner, Miura's son, calls him crazy. - Crazy man. - Everyone crazy. - Leave our store. - Kei was how should I say this?

Not happy. (bleep) But he's not the kind of person who gives up easily. - I have a plan. (upbeat music) - I cut my hair, dyed it black, and went back to the store the next day. - Everything's fine man. I did my hair and I hope you like it. It doesn't seem like he's up to anything good anymore. Please let me buy the car. Here's my money. - What car? (upbeat music) - I'm going crazy. The sunny one. - Oh yes, Sunny. Sorry kid, that guy just bought it. - What the hell? (whistle). - Hello boy.

I like your attitude. I like your courage. Can you drive like you really drive? - Yeah, I can (bleep) drive, man. - Maybe there's something behind it. -Then the owner showed Kei a Nissan, 510 that he had parked in the back. - I decided to buy it for 500,000 yen. They delivered the car to me two weeks later and told me to bring a helmet and gloves. They took me to the circuit on the day of delivery. My mentor is a crazy stranger who suddenly took me on a career path. - Now this guy realized that Kei was a certified car maniac.

So he obviously put him to work making parts for Disneyland. That's how it is. The happiest place on earth was being catered to by a group of hooligans. Kei learned to design using CAD while making attractions for Tokyo Disneyland. Now, he apparently played a major role in the design of an attraction called Cinderella's Window, but I couldn't find it on the Internet. He continued working in the shop maintaining his fiberglass skills and his free time. He took advantage of that knowledge to make Aero parts for his car. And it wasn't long until someone asked her to make arrow parts for his car.

Well. He didn't know it, but those parts were installed on a Ferrari Dino racing car, not bad for a kid in his 20s. When he was 20, I slept twice on the porch of a comedy club because the train stopped and I couldn't get back to Long Beach. Basically we are more or less the same. Kei was doing great, but the good times were about to hit a snag, which is really bad when it's all about building really low cars. - I was 22 years old at the time, but the police caught me too often and they took me to court.

My license was revoked for eight years and I didn't drive alone from the age of 22 until I was 30. -So it would be years before Kei Miura could design and drive cars at the same time, he was like 30 years old. It was a tragic love story. Once he was able to unite with his love for driving and making things, Kei set out to find his own way to be his own man. It was Lyft time. (upbeat music) That's how he started making pieces. But why these parts? What made you want to make huge flares and hit cars like they were doors closed by my father?

The Japanese automotive scene was about to experience a reboot, a rebirth. In the early 1980s, car accident deaths were on the rise and, fairly or unfairly, Bosozoku took the blame. This led to one of the most fateful moments in automotive history: the gentlemen's agreement of the famous Japanese automaker. - Gentlemen, thank you for coming. As you know, car accidents are on the rise. It seems these people can't get enough of killing each other with our cars, which is why the government threatens us with regulations. - Regulations. - Regulations. - Fuck, no. - No. - No. - I think I speak for everyone when I say that regulations are the worst thing that can happen to someone. - We know, yes we know, but we have found a solution. - We propose an agreement.

None of us will make any car with more than 276 horsepower. - The (bleeps) you talk about. - I just want to say that I think it's very nice that they invited me. - Gentlemen, please. If we ourselves voluntarily limit our power and we won't have to worry about the government doing it. - But then how (bleeps) are we going to make sports cars? - Yes. - Well, here at Honda we will concentrate on the handling and wait. - Oh really. Guys, this is like the best day of my life. - Okay, listen, because this is the most important part: we will make our engines extremely resistant.

That way all those mechanics out there, huh? They can tune their cars to make as much power as they want. - More power? - More power, baby. - More power, baby. - More power, baby. - More power, baby. - Well. Fix, fix, fix. -And if someone complains how are we going to know they were going to do that? - Exactly. We just sold them a car with 276 horsepower. - A focus on quality and efficiency. Genius. - We're all going to break this rule all the time, right? - Oh, yes, totally. Alright. Let's bet some guys fight in a parking lot. (upbeat music) - That deal designed to limit car accidents is, in many ways, the reason Japanese cars are so sought after today.

White Tuning exploded in Japan and with Tuning several different subcultures emerged. Kei was influenced by all of them, but three in particular stood out. The Kanjo scene was about taking normal consumer cars and turning them into rockets, with overly heavy windows. How about networks? Back seats? How about just nothing? I have a dent, leave it. You arrived at Jason's mass. No, get one. There is something here that is influenced by the Bosozoku style. And also the Kanjo spirit that anything you drive can be amazing. If you put enough work into it. That's why it makes kits not only for high-end sports cars, but also for things that ordinary people can afford.

Now, drifting in Japan was a little more organized than the Kanjo scene. (upbeat music) It was still home to punks, misfits and friendly, approachable people. The cars were stylish, they were stylish but they were also functional. Kei's first car turned out to be a Toyota AE86, one of the most legendary drift cars of all time. My first car was '86, which was just the right time for the Bosozokuto to become street racers. Since I lived in Kyoto, I went to Touge Street in Kyoto, but there were too many cars lined up from top to bottom. So at that time I often went to Nara, Osaka or Rokuoka.

The number of people was too large and the police could not suppress. (upbeat music) (car engine roar) - And finally, another Japanese car scene that influenced Miora's son is a little more abstract, but he says it was the one that influenced him the most. It was the quiche. It was the key. It was the signal. It was the Q ship, it was the Kyusha scene. I know I'm probably pronouncing that wrong. I'm referring to the Kyusha scene. (bright, happy music) ♪ I'm talking about the Kyusha scene ♪ Kyusha, translates to old car and really just means that you like old cars.

Specific subcultures aside, Miura was like a fashion mogul. He saw styles from the past that he liked and resurrected them. - It is largely inspired by racing cars, basically time trial cars, spikes, peaks and hill climbs. He loves those things. Ruby stuff. He loves racing cars. - Over fenders, large wings, wide bodies. These are all things that were in old race cars. He didn't invent about the fenders that the big 70's Trans-Am wings you see on our Canem and other racetracks. Widebugs, that's old school DTM. The pieces attempted to convey a sense of power and performance from a bygone era.

And if you've subscribed to Donut, congratulations. You're a Kyusha here. ♪ I'm talking about the Kyusha scene ♪ You didn't even know that. This guy just thought, man, I wish these current cars looked more like these old cars I love. And then he put together some plastic and made it happen. - Cars from the 70s and 80s have a great shape and the style is different from today's cars. I don't know why I like it, but I tend to convert new cars into older styles. - Now don't look for a corporate headquartersRocket Bunny in some quiet industrial park because you won't find it.

In fact, there is no Rocket Bunny building because it's not actually a company at all. Kei Miura manufactures the body kits at his Tops Racing Arts shop in Kyoto. And he has been since 1995. His website also looks like it's from 1995. TRA Kyoto is less of a typical garage and more of a mixed collection of motorsports and vintage technology. There are knick-knacks scattered around the space. Ready to inspire Kei at any time. Let's say if you have OCD, don't go there, you will vomit. Personally, I love it. (upbeat music) Today's Rocket Bunny kits are named after a line of parts Kei developed in the 1990s for KVM.

And the name was too cool not to use again. Inside TRA Kyoto is where the damn magic happens. That's where Kei Miura designs the Rocket Bunny kits, which are also known as Pandem here in the United States due to copyright issues. He also has a wheel company. He called up 46 Customs whose two-piece mesh design was designed to complement any of Kei's body kits. 46 was also the name of his former drift team. -The 46 are the wheels that he came up with in collaboration with Inky. So it was the Rocket Bunny, 6666, or he just called it the 46, that's the line of wheels that he launched back then. -That story seems pretty simple, but like everything with Kei Miura, where that name comes from, he has a cool backstory.

Sometimes several. - When they started wandering around with their 6666 team, they all made all kinds of stupid (bleep) noises because you know, you're nervous and you go out and do stupid things. So that's what happens. You see accidents, people crashing into cars, trails, jumping tires. Then he changed 666 to 6666. Because he got scared, it was like an accident. So let's change the name. - Chapter four, the legend of Miura. Kei's inspirations may have come from the Japanese underground and motorsports around the world. But as Miura's son said, the scene in Japan just wasn't very enthusiastic about his unique wide-body style, but it wasn't until his designs came to the United States that he really became big, think Tim Horton or democracy.

So I just want to be clear here. Alright. Miura's son had been making Rocket Bunny kits for a second S 13 kit and earlier material was already being imported to the United States. But when he changed the world was when he launched the kit of the newly debuted Scion FRS, Subaru BRZ, Toyota 86. He changed the world. - I think the community really accepted it very well. You know, take a new car and cut off the bumpers and side panels. And from that release, I think everyone fell in love with the style and it really exploded. - When the FRS arrived, I thought: Oh, so that's Rocket Bunny.

That's crazy. So S 13 sure, what kind of break broke the ice. And then it really went nuclear like the FRS. And from there everything grew like a snowball. - The FRS kit debuted at SEMA, the world's largest aftermarket automotive convention. And it caused quite a stir. Today, Kei Miura influences the entire SEMA but it is not just his designs. It is the process that allows you to make those designs. - Usually when body kits are made, they shape and shape the existing car and start shaping it. And they have to make a plug with that. But the way he designs it is he just draws everything on his computer screen, sends that data, and gets, you know, a CNC machine for the first sample. - Starts with a laser scan of the entire car.

For him it is important that his kits highlight the best of the car instead of hiding it. That is why it is very important to ensure that he has all the factory details correct. And one thing that everyone says about his kits is that they fit him very, very well. Then he starts playing. The way he designs, he's very good at it. I mean, he's been doing it for a while. He is drawing the actual widebody body kits on the car, rotating them on the computer screen and just clicking, clicking. - I bought a Mac for around 1 million yen when I designed attractions for Disneyland, since then I have been using CAD for 30 years since I was about 20 years old.

I don't think there are many people in the world who have used CAD for 30 years. - What is perhaps most impressive is that all of this is 100% self-taught. The guy is a complete nerd. He is like us. He realizes something that he wants to know how to do. Then he looks it up on YouTube or whatever. The equivalent of YouTube in the 90s it was. Books? I don't know. But he has all the details right. He can load the data into a multi-access carving machine which he uses to make a mold of the part out of polystyrene.

And once the mold is formed, it is filled with fiber-reinforced polymer, resin and allowed to harden. When he does it, he takes off the Styrofoam and a beautiful body part is left. And what looks like a lot of packing spikes. Because of this process, which can take most manufacturers months, TRA Kyoto can go from concept to part in just a couple of weeks. - That's what makes these kits more affordable because you don't mold things by hand. He's just all computerized. That's why they also fit very well. - And that perfect fit is what every Rocket Bunny owner will mention in the fact that they look better on very, very low cars because Japanese roads are much nicer than ours and it's easier to drive there.

But today, even though road conditions here are less than ideal, American buyers are hungry for Kei kits. To inspire you to build, you should have stuff for almost every cool car you can imagine. And some of them are just strange, but tremendously strange. For example, we got the boss kit that transforms the Nissan S 14 and FD Mazda RX seven into a weird alternate universe, Japanese muscle car instead of just replacing bumpers and chopping off fenders. The boss kit requires you to remove the entire front end of your car and replace it with a face that would look more at home on a '70s Mopar, the bulging Mopar hood completing the controversial look.

I admit it. Guess what? I love it. Another controversial kit would be the one he made for the Acura NSX. It's not the most radical by Kei Miura standards. Otherwise. It's almost very subtle. And the NSX isn't the only mid-engine car he's worked on. Porsche came in and the brand new Corvette C8 was also blessed and they both look amazing. Further proof that everything from a Nissan GTR to a Toyota Yaris can be the verb Rocket Bunny. Kei Miura is one of those guys I'm really jealous of. He's fine. He is blessed with the gift of being completely carefree or at least appearing that way.

He does things his way. And if you don't like him, so what? He'll still do his thing and other people will still like him. In that sense, he is a true artist and his canvas is a car and his paintbrushes are pieces of Styrofoam and keyboards. His work generates visceral reactions around the world and he doesn't slow down. Rocket Bunny is for people who, like Miura's son, want to stand out. Life is too short to be boring. He catches some looks, make a scene, get a damn Jason mask and sail away. Fatten. I want to thank everyone who helped make this video possible.

Grant our writer, Jesse and Zach, who directed. Follow Donut on Instagram @donutmedia. Follow me @jamespumphrey. Dionnne from Toyo Tires. Subscribe to his YouTube channel @OMGMIATA. Kenji from Greddy. So full of knowledge and amazing. Thank you for talking to us and especially to Kei Miura for taking the time and even more so for the kits. And thanks again to Miura for sending me that kit and to Dionne for making it all possible. And I really want to thank you for staying and waiting out this. We needed lights and fires under our butts. This is a bigger episode.

Let us know if you would like these videos larger. Let us know what great Up To Speeds you want to see. I miss you guys. I love you a lot. ♪ Better late than never ♪ ♪ For everything that was lost once again ♪