Prelude to TASS

Text by: Ben Photos by: Darren

When a show like the Tokyo Auto Salon Singapore takes place, the fun and excitement starts even before the doors open to the public.

In this case, the show started the day before, on Thursday 11th April, when the cars from the autostyling section of the show had a pre-show gathering at the Marina Barrage.

Powaa Crew's Darren was at the barrage to get first sights on the rides that would grace the show's halls for the week end of the 12, 13 and 14th April.

The cars came in waves, mostly to the rhythm set by the Singapore customs as most of the rides in the autostyling section were flying the Malaysian colours.

With most of the autostyling cars coming from our neighboring country, one might assume that Singapore has no proper rides to showcase, but the actual reason is that Malaysia's rules on modifying cars are much more lenient, giving drivers a lot more freedom to express themselves through their cars. The fear of having too close-for-comfort encounters with LTA after the show undoubtedly affected the turnout of Singapore-built machines at the show.

Some of the Malaysian cars were actually so extreme that they were turned away at the customs, and it was only thanks to the efforts of the organizers of the Tokyo Auto Salon Singapore that they cleared the customs and made it in time for the show!

It was a rather unique and fun sight to see the oni-cambered show-stoppers running high on their bags to clear the humps, or crawl sideways over them the the usual slammed society move.

Once all the cars were assembled at the barrage, the organizers gave the drivers their entry sequence, and all the rides lined up, heading for MBS' expo hall.

The humps on the way to the hall were the final obstacle for the lowest rides, but all went well, and no front lips or bodykits were cracked, to the relief of the owners.

After parking into their designated spots, the owners then proceeded to give their 'show queens' one final round of polish to get all prim-and-proper for the crowds that would be swarming the halls the very next day
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Paint jobs were polished to their nicest gleam...

The drivers set up props around their beloved rides to heighten the atmosphere...

And professionals were hired by the owners to make their cars look their best in hopes of catching the judges eyes and going back home with a prize at the end of the show.