The term “Hokkaido style” has been floating around lately. While it isn’t entirely wrong, there it more to Hokkaido than nonsuri event cars.

In the 1980s when people were traveling to Fuji Speedway to attend the Grand Championship with their kaido racers, Hokkaido enthusiasts looked at media coverage of the cars and wanted to build their own.

In the Young Auto 2011 yearbook, Takamichi from Sapporo, Hokkaido talks about how he first discovered hatsuhinode boso or “first sunrise runaway” that was happening in the Tokyo area. He talked about how it wouldnt be possible in Hokkaido because of all the snow. Takamichi goes on to say that there were works fender cars and haiso styling going on elsewhere, but he wasnt interested in that.

Hot Rod Specification

In 1987, Takamichi and his friends were interested in “hot rod specification” or ホットロッド仕様 (hottoroddo shiyō). This would entail raising the rear end along with big and wide tires on the rear. Sometimes this is also referred to as ケツ上げ (ketsu age) or “ass lift.” Popular bases for this include Nissan Gloria 430 and Toyota Cedric Y30. This is also the year this style started to be published more in magazines and more people started building cars like this. Team Madonna also formed in 1987.

By 1988, Takamichi and friends started to gain a bigger following for their next New Years meeting. Over 100 cars showed up at Cape Erimo in the middle of winter. They went all out to try and be flashy. Front end swaps, sheetmetal work, ducts, body kits from Hiro or Imai.

Vintage Japanese modified cars lined up at a port with red crane in the background.
Very early Madonna Racing in 1988

Many of the Hokkaido cars and teams went all out in 1990. Madonna Racing pushed the envelope on their cars with flashy colors, cut-off roofs along with many other trends found on Chibaragi cars. The Kamikaze Road video below shows some of these modifications. Even some early

Very early Fukuoka styling started to appear in Hokkaido in 1990 as well.

Red and white retro car on a seaside parking lot, with a person standing beside it.
Saotome Racing’s tri-color long-nose leopard, inspired by cars built in Fukuoka.

Event cars

In the early 2000s, event cars for nonsuri, or non-slip differential festival, became really popular.

Teams like ぶっちぎり優先道路 (BYD) would create cars to do donuts on a skid pad.

Don’t assume all of the cars below belong to BYD unless you see their name located on it.

Vintage race car with colorful decal design, featuring Potenza branding and lowered suspension.
GX61 Cresta, 30cm long nose, chin spoiler, side step, slit spoiler, Focus Racing 8J and 10J wheels. Owner: Shinichi. Champ Road March 2004
Vintage yellow car with custom modifications and a spoiler, parked outdoors under a clear blue sky.
Skyline Japan, fender duct, cherry tail, 25cm long nose, chin spoiler, homemade 3 piece wing, adjustable suspension, Albert mirror, Mark II 14x10j & 12J. Owner: Akitoshi. Champ Road August 2004
Vintage white racing car with number 00, sleek body design, Bridgestone tires, and Japanese decals on windshield.
GX61 Cresta 30cm long nose, chin spoiler, rear metal fender, slit spoiler, Vitaloni mirrors, Mark II 14×8.5J 11J, Porter tail. This is a new version from the first one. Owner: Shinichi. Champ Road Champ Road August 2004
Colorful custom car with extended body kit and spikes, labeled Team BYD, on a road.
GZ10 Soarer, lip spoiler, side step, Vitaloni mirrors, single Porter tail, Trust exhaust manifold, peacock takeyari, Longchamp 14x9J 10J. Champ Road August 2007
Modified Toyota sports car with custom graphics and body kit, featuring Falken and Cibie branding on a track.
GX81 Mark II, 27cm long nose, oil cooler, modified headlights from GX71, hood duct, Vitaloni mirrors, rear FRP fenders, side steps, rear door handles removed, no suspension, SSR Mesh wheels. Owners: Uni and Kenji.
Retro modified car with vibrant geometric decals and wide wheels on a track.
Z10 Soarer, long nose, shark-ear duct, metal rear fender, Albert mirror, no suspension, slit spoiler, SSR Mesh 14x9J 10J, 155-60-14 front and 185-60-14 tires. Champ Road August 2007
Custom white and yellow retro sports car with decals parked on a road with tires in the background.
GZ10 Soarer, long nose, lip, side step, slit spoiler, rear flare, Porter tail, Vitaloni mirror, no suspension, Longchamp 14x9J 10J. Owner: Haru.

Some of the cars BYD builds also dont fit into the typical nonsuri look as well. Like this super silhouette Soarer.

Doto

On the Eastern side of Hokkaido, there is another style which they call 道東仕様 which means “Eastern Hokkaido specification.” It is also sometimes written as 釧路仕様 or “Kushiro specification”. These are typically lowered stock body GX61s with wheels like Focus Five, and mesh.