26 Years Later: Two JDM Giants Collaborate For The FIRST Time | Capturing Car Culture

TL;DR

Thai enthusiast Beer Bio brokered the first-ever Top Secret and Ame-miya collaboration, producing a gold three-rotor NA FD RX7 debuted at Tokyo Auto Salon.

Key Points

• 1.Beer Bio single-handedly revitalized the Top Secret brand. A Thai car enthusiast from a wealthy hospitality family, Beer grew up idolizing Smoky Nagata after watching his famous UK police encounter video, waited two hours in line to meet him at Auto Salon, and has now amassed 10–11 Top Secret builds.
• 2.Smoky Nagata initially doubted Thai craftsmanship but was blown away. Beer sourced one of only two GT300 JGTC original body kits in Thailand, built a Mark V Supra using the country's best fabricators and painters, and earned Smoky's signature after the build met his exacting standards.
• 3.Beer's R34 collaboration with Smoky cost approximately $1 million. Thailand's 300% luxury tax on Japanese imports made every component extremely expensive; Smoky built the RB engine while Thai craftsmen handled everything else, marking the start of a true creative partnership.
• 4.Beer brokered the first-ever Top Secret and Ame-miya car collaboration, 26 years in the making. Despite both shops being based in Chiba and having a friendly relationship for decades, the two brands had never co-built a car until Beer casually suggested the idea after noticing their proximity.
• 5.The collaboration car is a gold three-rotor NA FD RX7 built in Top Secret colors. Top Secret defined the aesthetic — colorway, graphics, OZ wheels, and R35 brake package — while Ame-miya stripped the FC shell to bare chassis, painted it gold, and built the naturally aspirated 3-rotor engine inspired by a previous Matsumoto Kyoshi show car.
• 6.A separate Ame-miya build features an unprecedented three-rotor, three-turbo configuration. Commissioned by the son of a major Matsumoto Kyoshi sponsor, each rotor feeds one turbo with a custom manifold balancing exhaust pulses; expected power output is unknown as no one has attempted this setup before.
• 7.The collaboration FD debuted at Tokyo Auto Salon and Beer plans to drive it street-legally in Thailand. The car is registered as a classic and is street legal in Japan; Beer intends to ship it to Thailand where it will be driven loud 'Thai style,' continuing his mission to keep JDM culture alive globally.