Ah shit! We've covered this in one of the really older threads, but I can't remember for the life of me which thread it was. There was even a picture of the model itself in real life, complete with the paint job Akio's has. All I remember is something about "1954 Corvette Roadster" or somesuch. Suffice to say that the car Akio drives is not only real, but considered a classic amongst automobile collectors and enthusiasts.

...you know what, I'll bet Gio would know. She know pretty much goddamn everything even remotely related to Akio as it is, so if anybody on the forum would be the person to talk to, it'd definitely be Gio.

(Ya hear me, O Ends of the Forum? You should add an Akio Car subpage to LLOM!)

Considering this takes place in Japan, I'd wager that just about every major character would be driving a Japanese made car. The reason I say "just about every" is because Akio's the exception and Touga would either want to emulate Akio or indulge himself with a Western-designed car.

1957 Corvette Roadster. You just missed one, apparently. Top condition ones seem to run in the 100k-150k range, with much attention paid to the quality of the paint. Bruce Willis sold one for far less than 100k, but it was white, and no one liked that.

Also I'm pretty sure there were no car phones back then, Akio.

BioKraze wrote:

...you know what, I'll bet Gio would know. She know pretty much goddamn everything even remotely related to Akio as it is, so if anybody on the forum would be the person to talk to, it'd definitely be Gio.

(Ya hear me, O Ends of the Forum? You should add an Akio Car subpage to LLOM!)

I'm like Akio's personal PR representative and secretary. Oooo

As for LLOM, I've actually even coded the page for that. The 'Absurdity' part was always a placeholder for a section to be called 'Machines', where I discuss the projector and the car and such. Frankly, updating the site is incredibly slow work. I'll admit, I just don't work on it lately except in monthly bursts of weekend activity. My life is incredibly busy, and ironically while I have the time and energy right now, I'm so wound up to get to Canada already (2 weeks!) that I can hardly pay attention to walking in a straight line. Seriously I'm so checked out of Florida I feel like I'm in a ghost town.

PS. Akio's projector is a dumbbell design. These were the standard from the late 20's through most of the century, but any projector you purchased during the 50's would have been the design of Akio's. The state of the art ones today are spheres called starballs, which those of you who visited the Rose Center (AAHAHAHA) at the Museum of Natural History in NYC saw.

By the look of that car and the price , your in luck Gio. Akio is also a rich bastard, too. (Like we didn't know that already, but DAMN!)
But...I mean..even if I didn't like SKU, that's one of the coolest cars...like ever. That's one of those things that never go out of style. This is one of the biggest symbolisms in the whole fucking series.

Giovanna wrote:

That said, Akio saw fit to mod his car (LOL PIMP MY RIDE LOL) with a carphone and god knows what else. That's balls, you don't mess with antiques.

Well, he does let them drive through buildings and crash into walls and stuff. He seems to think they grow on trees. >.< Not to mention adding backseats and all. Hey, he COULD have a carphone from back then, just, with a phoneline trailing behind him ala evangelion.

Though people did these things back then too. Like everyone in 63 changing their split rear windows, which are now really rare.

For some reason, Chevrolet REALLY wants us to embrace red seats, as I've noticed an OBSCENE number with them. (I'm sadly guilty of this too. :gonk: )

However, changing the seats and all is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Generally, there's the theory that everything needs to be stock or restored. And then there's the group that wants pimped out. (I am of the restored group.) Driving the car is terrifying, not only for fear of getting it hurt, but most people CAN'T SEE YOU. And if you need to change a panel on the chassis, you can basically kiss its value goodbye. (Repainted varies from person to person.)

The main thing I've noticed driving up Corvette prices is who wants that exact car, which can be history, sentiment, novelty, and of course, the condition.
Like, if all of you were in an auction for C1's, You's all more than likely go after one red with tan seats. What the audience wants usually sells for the most at auctions and such.
(None of these people will drive these cars. And you can't blame them. Also, they're a pain in the ass. All up to the current ones. They're more a hobby that you can conveniently drive.)

Given the status of the car, you can get one really cheap. I got my C4 dirt cheap, cause it had been parked for years, even though everything was original. (WHAT KIND OF BASTARD FILLS A CORVETTE WITH BEES) He's also currently the least popular style. :( (Fortunately, was the one I wanted.) I fixed him up, and now have a gorgeous show piece, who recently turned a classic. (My baby's growing up!) Actually, I almost recently bought a really beat up, cheap C1, but I don't think its the time in my life to do that. Buu.



Actually, I can do better.

Meet Touga.



Not really the Touga bike (there's something so... stickly about his.) but I dare you to get closer.

I sold him in highschool, Probably for not nearly enough, to a collector who shows him to the world. I'm glad people get to enjoy him, as I wasn't doing much with him at all. (He was also once in craptacular shape. I'm talking, my mom chewed us out for bringing it home bad shape.)

The shield on the sidecar is new and was put on by us, cause, seriously, you do NOT want to ride in that thing without it. (Yes, we had actually gone lots of places in him.) He was from the 30's and you actually had to kickstart him.

He also had the most comfortable seat in the world (soft leather and springy!) and possibly the most memorable start up growl in the world. I miss my Touga~




(Dios would have a golfcart. DON'T DENY IT.)

Other people may have said it better than I did, but either Akio drives a Ford, a (1990's styled) Subaru or in my eyes a Datsun. but it looks like a car that came out of the Seventies, so possible an illusionary pimped up 70's styled car.